


You're Just A Broken Angel

by NikkiDoodle



Series: You're Just A Broken Angel [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Action/Adventure, Angst, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Awkward Sexual Situations, Best Friends, Comfort/Angst, Eventual Smut, F/M, Falling In Love, First Kiss, First Love, Fluff, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Heavy Angst, Kissing, Love Triangles, Love/Hate, Magic, Male-Female Friendship, Mild Sexual Content, Mild Smut, Old Friends, Sexual Humor, Twisted and Fluffy Feelings, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-05
Updated: 2014-08-09
Packaged: 2018-01-18 07:39:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 27,044
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1419940
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NikkiDoodle/pseuds/NikkiDoodle
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Clara Evans, born a mudblood and abandoned by her real parents, was taken in by both Lily and James Potter the night she was born. She lost everything that night of James and Lily's death, but she gained so much more. If only she could see that when he would look into her eyes, and the way he would want her in his arms.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Broken Angel Were You Sad When He Crush All Your Dreams [Prolouge]

Clara Evans was born on October 31st, 1976 in the muggle world. She however was unlike the rest of the muggles when she slowly started to show the same type of powers that her aunt, Lily Evans, possessed. That's right, Clara Evans, who was born with the same green eyes and ginger hair as Lilly, was a mudblood. With her parents unable to know what to do, they had found a way to leave Clara Evans on the doorstep of James and Lilly Potter's house in Godric's Hollow. Without a second thought, Lily and James had taken in the child and raised it to be their own. Clara quickly grew attached to both of her newly found family members and it only began to become better when Sirius Black and Remus Lupin had came into the picture. Sirius and Clara took to one another as if they had know each other all their lives while Remus, afraid to grow attached to the small child, kept his distance in fear of what lurked within him on a full-mooned night.  
  
But, Clara was a very determined little girl and with each chance she had gotten with Remus, she would take it. Though very quiet with most people, Clara would open up to Remus more than she would with others. It was as if there was something inside her that drew her to this man who she watched as he tried very hard to keep his distance. It wasn't long before a new member of the family was added, a new baby boy cousin was born and his name was Harry. At first Clara didn't know how to act with the small and strange looking creature that Lilly had called her baby, but she quickly warmed up to Harry as he opened up his eyes and held the same green orbs that his mother and Clara both held.

Then, on the night of Clara's 5th birthday, October 31st, 1981 all her happiness in the world was suddenly taken from her in one single night. Luckily, she had hidden in the cupboard like James had told her and had kept from being seen by the person who had broken into their once loving home and had taken everything away from her. Clara continued to stay in the small space for the next several hours after listening to the screaming of both Lily and James until Dumbledore, who had arrived with several others from the Order, had found Clara hiding in the small space.  
  
Dumbledore had pulled her from her hiding place and handed her off to Remus, who took her outside without letting her see anything that might scar the poor child for the rest of her life. He was the one who had to inform her about Jame's and Lily's death and he comforted the small girl as she took the news as he had planned. It was not only painful for her, being abandoned not only once by her original parents who didn't want her due to the fact that they did not understand how to deal with her; but now the only family that had ever loved her was gone, all but for Harry Potter as he later came to be known as _"The boy who lived"_.  
  
As doubt and confusion shadowed the young girl's mind, she was too young to understand why things were turning out the way they were for her. She later learned that they had found the person who had helped in Jame's and Lily's murder and it only lead to crushing her heart even more for that person, as she had come to learn, was none other than the person she had looked up to while growing up as a child; Sirius Black. This broke Clara in two after she had learned about the man, who she had trusted, turned against everything that she believed him to be and had helped to murder the only family that had cared for her. With no where else left to go, Clara was taken under Remus Lupin's care where she was watched closely for the next few year. It was then on a full-moon night when Clara was eleven that she learned about Remus's _"furry little problem"_ as Remus had liked to called it.  
  
Remus thought that she would want to leave him after she had found out about the secret he had tried so hard to keep hidden from her. He feared that he would scare her away after he had grown so attached to her over the years. She reminded him so much of James and Lilly that he often at times forgotten that she was only their niece and not their actual child. Clara was very smart and didn't judge like Lilly and when she had found out about his condition, instead of running away from him like everyone else had in the past, Clara just simply looked at Remus and it was then she showed him just how mature she was for someone like herself.  
  
"Why would I hate someone for something they have no control over?" Clara asked one night after taking hold of Remus's much bigger hand and holding it  in hers. Remus didn't know how to reply to her answer as he felt his heart ache in his chest from the remembrance of Lilly and James and had known that they had done a wonderful job in raising the little girl who stood in front of him now. Clara continued to live with Remus up to the point of getting her acceptance letter from Hogwarts from Dumbledore himself. It was then that Clara decided since she was starting to go to school she felt as if she was more of a burden on Remus, though much to his argument against her being anything but a burden, than anything else and decided to move out that following year. As Clara went through all of the trails between getting her first wand, to her school books, to boarding the train, and then being sorted by the sorting hat.  
  
Clara Evans was sorted into Gryffindor just like her aunt and uncle before her. Each year brought something new for her and new trails and opsticals came that challenged her and changed her for the rest of her life. She mostly kept to herself, not really making friends with the other Gryffindors like everyone else had done over the years. Clara could mostly be found in the library with her nose stuck in a book as she tried her best to do the best she could in all of her classes. Then during her fourth year at Hogwarts it was time for all the fourth years to decide what it was that they would like to become, to major in so to speak. Many of them had chosen Aurors as they wanted to become strong and fight with their magical abilities, so when Clara was asked the same question it seemed she shocked her Professor, Professor Mcgonagall that she had wanted to become an Animagus.  
  
When Clara left Hogwarts and was to get ready for her fifth year her old friend Remus Lupin approached her after hearing from Dumbledore that she wished to major in Animagus. Remus, after telling her some stories about how her uncle and his friends had all practiced so hard to become Animagus to help keep an eye on him during his changes under the full-moon it only drove Clara harder into trying to become what she started out doing. Remus had explained that if she wished to do this, she should try to learn the _Expecto Patronum_ spell. He explained that revealing her "spirit animal" through this spell would help her to become an Animagus, due to the fact that an Animagus transforms into their "spirit animal". With Remus's help she was finally able to figure out what her spirit animal was and it shocked Remus Lupin beyond anything he had ever known. Clara Evan's spirit animal was that of a Doe.  
  
This was a proven fact that Clara Evans really was in relation to Lily in more ways than one and it was something that Remus or anyone else could not ignore. But, not only did she show signs of being Lilly's kin, but she also seemed to have picked up traits from James as well as she turned out to be brave, loyal, and above all else _almost trouble seeking_ _._  
  
By the beginning of her fifth year Clara had mastered the spell that most wizards her age could only dream of doing. It wasn't until the end of her fifth year did she finally master in transforming into her spirit animal. By the end of her school year she had managed to graduate (early) and at the top of her class. This was a big accomplishment for her and it wasn't that much long after she had graduated school was she called to a meeting by Dumbledore, which he wouldn't tell her why he had called her but just for her to arrive at the address at the correct time and date. When she arrived she was confused when she found Remus Lupin, and others there who she had somewhat known through other people. Mad Eye approached her and gave her an offer of joining _The Order of the Phoenix_ which was a group of specially skilled fighters who fought against the Death Eaters that were once part of, Voldemort's army.  
  
Even thought the group was currently disband at the time being, Clara agreed on joining them, only to have Remus Lupin pull her aside and beg for her to reconsider. He was her friend, mentor, and family and she knew that he worried about her joining and was willing to do everything in his power to protect her.  
  
"What better way to make sure that I'm safe and protected than to do it yourself, Remus?" Once again her witty remark had caught Remus Lupin off guard and he shook his head, admitting that she had him there.  
  
"You're too much like James, you know that Clara." Clara gave him a sad smile as they slowly embraced and held one another closely. Remus sighed and held on tight to the girl who he had taken care of for most of her life after everything that had happened.  
  
"And you've got Lily's heart." he added, feeling her cling to him tighter at the thought of Lilly. After everything was said and done Clara accepted the offer in the Order and used her many talents to help them in their quest to rid the world of the Dark Magic. Along the way Clara had made friends with Mr. Weasley, who she was then introduced to his twin boys Fred and George and the three of them quickly became friends as she was rather intrigued with their ways of thinking and their humor when it came to pranks. Not only did she become friends with the Weasley Twins, but there was also something about Mad Eye that drew her to him. She didn't know if it was just his personality in general or perhaps the way he went about things. Whatever it was, Clara found a deep bonding friendship in Mad Eye and he too found someone in herself.  
  
But, little did everyone know that these happy moments would once again turn for the worse. Clara Evans watched as the events unfolded right in front of her and it soon started to become too much for her young mind to take as she started to spiral into a world of darkness and clung to the only person she had left in the world; Remus Lupin.


	2. I Wish You Could See The Same Faith In Yourself That I See In You

  
Clara Evans sat in her one bedroom apartment at her desk. Her desk faced the window and allowed her to see the full-moon that shone brightly outside. As she sat at her desk and wrote in her journal, Clara couldn't help but worry about one man, who on this night took a turn for the worst. Remus Lupin was her long time friend, mentor, and someone she could call family. But Remus was known to change into his "furry little problem" on nights like these when the full-moon bared way in the clouded night sky. Clara's green orbs moved from the pages in her journal to the moon that seemed to sway with the movements of the clouds. A sigh escaped her lips as worry filled her to the brim. She wished that she still lived with Lupin sometimes so she didn't have to worry so much, but she knew that the older she had gotten and the more troubles she brought with the torment of growing older, she could not bring herself to allow those problems to fall onto Remus as well.

Still, she worried about him often like she always did, and it was funny because he never really seemed to leave her mind as he was always there to do with something that she thought about. Maybe that was one of the reasons why Clara overly worried about nights like this when the moon was whole. Closing her journal slowly she placed her quill down next to her book before she turned around in her chair and blew out the candle that sat on the side of the desk. Pulling herself away from the desk she wandered over to her bedside and sat down on the edge. Turning her head she looked at the three small picture frames that sat on her bed-side table. She felt a small smile come to her lips as she looked at the first one. It held the picture of Lilly, James, and herself. She was so small as Lilly held her in her arms and the resemblance to Lilly was amazing, you would think that she was her own daughter. As the picture moved, Lilly drew Clara closer to her and James glanced down at her small form and gave a big smile himself.

Then the next one was of her holding Harry the night he was born in the hospital. Harry looked so big as Clara held him for the first time in her arms and she continued to smile at the camera before looking down at him and smiling. Then the last one, the last one was taken on the day before Clara had left to go to Hogwarts. Remus stood next to her and held her close as she was dressed in a simple white button up shirt that had a vest over it and some black slacks to match her outfit since they hadn't known that she was going to be sorted into the Gryffindor house just yet. Clara was smiling and glanced up at Remus, who looked down at her and pulled her closer into a side hug before they both returned to look at the camera. She sighed, glancing around her empty apartment before leaning over and blowing out the candle on her bed-side table before laying down and trying to get some sleep.

The next morning Clara was up early and headed out at the crack of dawn. She walked down the street dressed in a simple blue plaid shirt and a pair of blue jeans. Her hair was done up in a messy bun to accompany for the rather mucky summer whether that had hit today, and she had wished that there was a spell to keep her a tad bit cooler. She arrived at her destination at a little half past ten as she walked up the steps to the home and knocked on the door. She waited for a moment before knocking again as she started to worry when no one answered after her first two knocks. Preparing to pull out her wand to unlock the door herself, she watched as the door swung open to reveal a rather messy looking Remus. Clara's eyes widened as she took in his appearance seeing that his hair was uncombed and his eyes seemed to be sunk into his face from the change last night.

He looked a tad bit more scruffy than the last time she had seen him, but rubbed it off as that he just hadn't shaved in a while. Remus didn't look surprised at all as Clara stood there on his doorstep to see him. This happened after every full-moon that Clara would walk clear from her apartment all the way to his house just to check up on him and to make sure that he was alright. Remus gave a tired sigh, he was happy to see her but his head was pounding from the events of being locked up last night and the transformation that took place was still taking its tole on him even hours after the moon had set and the sun had risen.

"Hello Remus," Clara said, waiting for him to allow her into his home like usual. Remus nodded, opening the door with his arm and allowing her inside as she ducked underneath his arm to enter his home. She looked around, seeing that he had managed to stay inside his house this time with the transformation as she looked around and noticed that he had broken a few items this time from behind inside. Hearing the door shut, Clara turned around and watched as Remus walked over next to her dressed in his blue house robes. He scratched the back of his head as he gave another tired sigh and leaned himself up against the entryway to the living room and taking a look at the damage for himself.

"It's nothing I can't fix." he told her. She nodded, knowing that he knew the spell on how to put everything back together and making it look bran new again.

"Would you like some tea?" he asked, trying to draw her away from scene in the living room. She looked up at him and gave a small smile with a slight nod.

"Yeah, tea would be lovely." Remus turned and headed into the kitchen as Clara followed closely behind and into the kitchen, which had strangely been untouched after last night. Remus headed over to the stove to get the water boiling, but was stopped by Clara grabbing onto his arm and motioning for him to sit instead.

"I've got the tea. You just sit down and rest." Remus chuckled slightly, but allowed Clara to do her thing as she worked her way around the kitchen, remembering where everything was from the time that she had lived here. Remus took a seat at the table and watched as she got the kettle started and took out the tea cups from the cabinet.

"Clara, you've always been too kind to me." Remus pointed out. He was unable to see her face due to her back being turned to him, but she had a half hearted smile plastered on her lips at the moment.

"Well, that's because you've always been kind with me, Remus." Clara told him as she turned to allow him to see that smile on her lips. He smiled back before he gave a soft chuckle and continued to watch her work. After the water boiled she pulled the kettle from the stove and poured them both a cup of tea and served it to Remus and placed her own down across from his. Remus took a sip and placed the cup back down on the table as his eyes glanced over at her, catching her own gaze as it came up from the table when she felt his eyes on her.

"I suppose I should go ahead and tell you now," Remus started, leaning onto the table a bit as to rest himself slightly. Clara placed her cup down from taking another sip and looked at Remus with a questionable look while she waited for him to continue.

"I received a letter from Dumbledore. He asked me to return to Hogwarts to be the new Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor for this year." Clara's eyes widened slightly to the news that Remus had gotten. She didn't know how to reply because there was only one question that lingered in her mind, and it was a question that frightened her majorly.

"What about your transformation? What is Dumbledore going to do on the nights of the full-moon while you're teaching?" Remus raised his hands, knowing that Clara was going to ask him that very question.

"I've informed Dumbledore that you would have asked me about that, and that's why he had agreed to have you tag along and help keep an eye on me when it's the night of a full-moon." Clara felt her hands start to shake. She hadn't returned to Hogwarts for a few years and she didn't know how she was suppose to handle things if she were to return. Remus knew about her days at Hogwarts, he was the only person who she wrote to while she studied there and he knew that there were certain people who she wasn't able to handle.

"Dumbledore knows that you've gotten much better with your Animagus, and he thinks that by having you there it would help to keep things _peaceful_ for me at night." he finished explaining. Clara looked down at her cup of tea and thought back to the stories that Remus would tell her of James and Sirius and how they would transform into their Animagus in order to keep an eye on him when he transformed. They were so good at keeping him from getting into trouble or hurting others, but Clara was so unsure about herself and she doubted her own skills when it came to such tasks.

"I-I don't know Remus. What if something goes wrong? What if something happens that I can't handle it? What then?" Remus shook his head. He knew that she had doubts about herself, but there was no need for that because she was so skillful, she just couldn't see it. The way she mastered the most difficult of spells at such a young age proved that she was indeed a power witch, if only she had the same faith in herself as he had in her.

"You're a strong young woman, Clara, and I know that you can handle this. Dumbledore knows this as well, you know he wouldn't put you in charge of such an important responsibility if he didn't have the same faith in you like I do." Clara's eyes met with his as she felt her heart quicken slightly. Remus was always too overly kind to her when it came to compliments and the faith that he had in her. She removed her eyes from his for a split second before she looked at him again, seeing that he was still looking at her intently and hoping that she would agree. She closed her eyes for a moment and gave a small sigh before nodding her head and reopening her eyes to see Remus slowly starting to smile at her.

"Alright, I'll give it a shot. But if I can't handle it, I'm letting Dumbledore know." Remus was grinning now. He was happy that she was willing to take the chance on something like this. It was true, everything Clara said was true. This was very important, it was a life or death situation for the both of them and the people that would be around when it was a full-moon. But it made Remus happy to see that Clara, the girl who was so unsure about herself and skills, to take on a task as big as this for once.

"When are we to be leaving?" she asked, picking up her tea cup and taking a small sip from the white cup. Remus followed pursuit with his own cup but looked at her over the rim.

"Beginning of the school year. A month from now." he took a sip from his cup and watched Clara closely. She placed her cup back down and looked out of Remus's kitchen window. There was a lot on her mind at the moment, mostly it being returning to Hogwarts and having to watch Remus during the night of his transformation. Not only that, but she knew that returning would stir up old memories of her past that she tried to hard to forget. She knew it wasn't going to be easy, and she had a month to re-practice some spells that she knew would come in handy in helping with watching Lupin. She also needed to brush up on her Animagus transformation since it had been a while since she had found the need to transform into her Doe like state.

Clara's eyes looked out the window and to the sky, knowing that this was going to be the longest month of her life.


	3. In My Greatest Time of Need I Just Want You Around

The morning was warm, but out in the middle of the woods the air was cold and crisp as the tops of the trees blocked out the sun in the early morning. Fog covered the mossy ground of the forest floor that gave it a mysterious look as the sun had just begun to rise over the horizon. The woods were silent, all but for the creek that ran along the small incline and trickled down further toward the sleeping town below. Out in the middle of the woods, stood a doe. She walked about slowly and with caution as she crept toward the stream to gather a drink of the cool and crisp water. Lowering her head, she lapped up the water from the slowly moving creek with her tongue. Suddenly, a twig snapped in the distance and startled the doe, causing her head to jolt up and glance around quickly. She couldn't see anything due to the fog that lingered about, but she knew something was out there.  
  
Backing away from the creek, she continued to look around and by the sound of the second snap of a twig she took off in a run toward the town. Her nostrils flared as she ran through the woods, leaping over fallen trees and over larger rocks. Something was out in the woods and it was quickly catching up with her. Panic over took her whole core and it only drove her to quicken her pace. As she went to leap over a fallen log, she caught out of the corner of her eye a large and black dog, almost wolf like looking, leaping toward her and baring its fangs. She cried out as it tackled her to the ground and went to attack her neck, only to have her hoof come up and kick it back in the face and sending it flying across the dirt flooring of the woods. The animal yelped out from the unsuspecting attack and it was so thrown off that it gave the doe a chance to get back up on it's hooves and start running again.  
  
It listened as there came a loud growl and the chase was on again. The black hound was close on the doe's back as it nipped and tried to take out its back legs. But, the doe was slightly faster as its legs were longer and gave it a better chance at jumping father over taller logs and larger rocks. With the town in view just at the bottom of the incline, the doe made a mad dash toward the opening where to woods parted. It had made it by a hair and continued to run through the back yards of people's homes until it noticed that it wasn't being followed anymore. It stopped running, looking back at the line between the town and the woods, seeing the hound glaring its way but not daring to leave the woods. It was then that the hound slowly turned away and lurked back into the woods. When the doe knew it was safe after figuring out that the hound would not follow the doe into the town, for whatever reason that might have been, it continued on slowly back into the town and found a secluded ally-way and it was there that it slowly started to change back into its human form.  
  
Clara gasped and leaned herself up against the wall of a building. She was out of breath and her side was killing her from where the hound had managed to grab hold of her right shoulder and take her down. Never before had she ever had something like that happen in the woods with her. She had never encountered such a wild beast that had actually tried to attack and kill her while she was practicing her Animagus transformation. She looked at her shoulder and noticed where the hound had sunk its teeth into her flesh as she was bleeding rather badly. She sighed, glad to be alive but still confused at the same time. Where had that creature came from and what's more why had it suddenly appeared and attacked her out of the blue like that? Pushing off the wall, Clara drug herself back to Remus's house. She had agreed to meet him early this morning after he had woken up because the two of them were suppose to finish packing for their trip today. That's right, today was the first day of Hogwarts and Clara only wished that she had longer to practice her skills.  
  
It worried her greatly and to no end this last month as she pondered on the thought if she would actually be able to be of any help to Remus. After what just happened she wasn't all too sure about it. She couldn't even out run a simple hound, so if Remus were to transform and things turned for the worse how was she ever suppose to out run him? Walking up the steps to his house, she tried to cover up her wound with part of her shirt, which was ripped all thanks to that hound. The last thing she needed was Remus to worry about her because he already had enough on his plate as it was. Before she could even knock on the door, Remus opened it as if he had watched her walk up to his house. Of course, the first thing he noticed was her wounded shoulder and the concern showed greatly in his eyes.  
  
"Clara? What happened to you?" Remus questioned, the concern also ringing clear in his voice as he ushered her inside to take a look at her shoulder. He brought her into the living room where he made her sit down on the couch as he rolled up the sleeve to her wool sweater.  
  
"It's not as bad as it looks." Clara commented right before Remus finished rolling up her sleeve and the both of them saw the deep teeth marks that ripped open her pale skin. Remus's eyes flickered up to Clara's with a look of shock before his shoulders dropped and he gave her a look of rather disbelief.  
  
"Not as bad as it looks? Clara, you've been bitten by something and half of your shoulder is missing!" Clara looked away. Remus always blew things way out of proportion when it came to her well being. She knew it was only because he cared about her, but really it wasn't nearly as bad as it looked. Sure, she had teeth marks in her shoulder and it was bleeding pretty bad, but her shoulder was still intact and very much there.  
  
"Clara, what happened to you?" Clara peeked at Remus from behind her ginger hair that acted as a curtain as her head was slightly lowered due to his outburst about her shoulder.  
  
"Well, I was getting one more good practice of my Animagus transformation in before we leave this morning, and as I was out practicing in the woods I was suddenly attacked by a black hound that came out of no where." Clara watched as Remus's face paled and the fear struck his eyes as she had mentioned the hound to him. Remus suddenly looked away out of the living room window before he glanced back at her, leaving her confused with his sudden concern for what was outside. Remus grabbed both her arms while being careful of her injured shoulder as he leaned forward with a nearly terrified look in his eyes.  
  
"A black hound? You're sure it was a black hound?" Clara slowly nodded. Remus was starting to worry her with the way he was acting. Why was this black hound such a big concern with Remus. Remus suddenly sprung from the couch and paced around the living room. Clara sat on the couch and watched as Remus placed his hand on his chin and rubbed it as he seemed to be deep in thought about something.  
  
"A _black hound_ you're sure it wasn't a wolf?" Remus asked, stopping his pacing and looking down at Clara with his finger pointed toward her as he leaned over slightly. Clara stood up from the couch and looked at Remus with a great deal of worry in her own eyes.  
  
"Yes Remus, I'm sure of it." she told him, which caused him to turn around and rest his arm on the fireplace in front of him. With his back turned to her, he didn't notice as the look of worry only grew more in her eyes. She approached him slowly from behind, worried about everything now more than ever.  
  
"Remus what's wrong?" Remus shook his head before he turned away from the fireplace and looked at her with a saddened look that was mixed slightly with disbelief.  
  
"Do you remember reading in the papers on Sirius Black? How he escaped from Azkaban here a few weeks ago?" Clara's eyes widened, how could she possibly forget reading that in the papers? When she had read about the article she had literally got sick to her stomach and had thrown up moments later in her bathroom. Sirius Black was the man that she could never forget. He was one of the only men, besides Remus, that she trusted with her life when she was growing up. She had grown very close to Sirius and had looked up to him when she was smaller. But, it all changed on that night when James and Lilly were murdered with his help. Sirius had broken everything that she ever loved and there was no way that she could ever forget that man that had taken away her family.  
  
"Of course, how could I forget?" Remus's expression only seemed to sadden more before it hardened as he looked at her.  
  
"Sirius Black was also an Animagus, and his transformation was that of a black hound." Clara's heart stopped in her chest. She felt her stomach start to churn from this newly found information and found herself becoming light headed. Remus saw this and quickly caught her and slowly guided her back down onto the couch where he sat closely next to her and kept a hold on her as she took in everything. Her breathing started to quicken as she ran a hand through her hair and started to feel as if she was going into a panic attack. Remus made eye contact with her and wouldn't allow her to look away from him as he tried to calm her down. Clara had realized that the hound that had attacked her in the woods had to have been Sirius Black. It was said shortly after his escape that Sirius would be hunting down Harry Potter, but never did anyone believe that he would also go after Clara.  
  
"Remus, why is he after me?" her voice was a rather high pitch from her rapid breathing. Remus shook his head and placed his hands on both sides of her cheeks to keep her looking at him.  
  
"I don't know. But, I promise that I won't let anything else happen to you." Clara felt herself calming down slightly with Remus's words to her. But she knew that there was no way that he could protect her and deal with his own problem of transforming every night on the full-moon while they were both at Hogwarts. If Sirius was smart, she knew that he would try to attack her again on one of the nights of the full-moon while Remus was transformed and unable to protect her. Clara wasn't stupid and she knew that Sirius wasn't either. It took a while for Remus to finally calm down Clara to the point where he wasn't worried about her passing out on him anymore. After everything had settled, Remus went to gather some medical supplies and wrapped her wound to the best of his abilities.  
  
It was later on that day that they left for the Hogwarts Express and no more was said between the two of them about Sirius Black. Clara kept her guard up until they had boarded the train. She looked around and noticed that not a single thing had changed about the old train since she had first rode it to Hogwarts. As Remus and herself found an empty car they both placed their belongings away and took a seat on opposite sides to each other. Clara looked out the window and watched as many different students from all four different houses said their good-byes to their parents before boarding the train.  
  
"Would you like a drink?" Remus's voice pulled her out of her thoughts as she turned to look at the bottle of brandy that he had opened and was offering her a sip. Clara shook her head, she was never one for the drink. Remus nodded, and poured a glass of it for himself before tipping it back and drinking some of it. He then proceeded to pull his coat over his side and leaned up against the window. His tired eyes falling on Clara who met him in a short gaze before she pulled her eyes away and looked back out at the platform.  
  
"There's no need to worry about Sirius. He wouldn't appear here, there are too many people and he could be caught." It was then that it dawned on Clara that this was the reason why that hound hadn't followed her into town. Sirius didn't want to be spotted by anyone else and wasn't about ready to risk it even if it meant allowing her to go free. Clara pulled her eyes away from the outside world and looked over at Remus, who gave her a small and reassuring smile before he closed his eyes and pulled his jacket up further to cover more of his face. The train rolled out of the station and onto Hogwarts. Clara knew that she had some time so she pulled forth a book that she had packed for the long trip. It wasn't long before the door to the compartment slid open and drew Clara's attention away from her book and to the three students that all looked at her before entering the car.  
  
"Hello," The girl greeted Clara. Clara watched as two boys followed in behind her and took a seat next to Remus as the girl took a seat next to Clara.  
  
"Hello." Clara replied, looking between the three students before her. She felt awkward as they all looked at her then to Remus, who had luckily fallen asleep and left her to deal with the uneasiness of having the three students to talk to.  
  
"Who are you?" The ginger haired boy asked, receiving a rather rude look from the girl across from him.  
  
"Ronald, these are our new teachers. Professor Evans and Professor Lupin." Clara's eyes had re-fallen onto her book as she didn't want to make any further eye contact with these students. But she just couldn't shake the feeling of a pair of eyes still on her body and wouldn't leave her be. Looking up again, she noticed a brunet haired boy with very familiar looking green eyes that reminded her much of Lilly's old eyes. He also wore a pair of glasses that greatly reminded her of James. Clara and this boy looked at each other for a moment before Clara found the courage to look at all three of them and finally ask the question.  
  
"And what's your names then?" The three of them looked to Clara as the girl was the first to introduce herself. Clara learned that this girl was Hermione, the boy was Ronald, who she now knew was the youngest son of Mr. Weasley, and then there was...  
  
"Harry Potter." Clara felt her heart stop in her chest. This boy was Harry Potter, the very same Harry Potter who was her cousin? She didn't know what to do and so she quickly returned to her book, which caused the trio to give her a rather strange look before starting a conversation among themselves. The train ride seemed to slow suddenly after about an hour of driving and Clara knew that it was far too early to have arrived at Hogwarts. Suddenly, Clara felt extremely cold and it was as if what little happiness there was left inside of her being was slowly being sucked out of her. Ronald jumped from his seat and gazed out the window, nearly landing in Clara's lap and received a hiss from Hermione about being rude.  
  
"Something's out there," Ronald whispered, the fear shaking in his voice. Clara closed her book slowly as she watched the ice form to the window of the car and then she noticed that ice formed on the door and windows around the car. Her breath hitched in her throat as she watched as a large and shadow like creature was approaching their car from the other side of the door. The trio became extremely terrified as the door to the car opened and in came what Clara had prayed for anything but the creature that started to hover over Harry Potter. The Demintor  hovered over Harry and Clara's book fell to the floor making a loud bang as she watched the Demintor give Harry _The Demintor's Kiss._ She started to rise from her seat and pull out her own wand, but the sound of Clara's book hitting the floor caused Remus's eyes to snap open as he glanced around and noticed the creature as he quickly jumped to his feet and placed his hand in front of Clara to protect here while he projected an _Expecto Patronum_ without having to say the spell's name.  
  
The bright white light flew from Remus's wand and pushed back the vile creature from the cart and out of the whole train. Clara watched as Harry fell onto the side of the seat and passed out. After the Demintors' were gone and the train had regained its power Remus put away his wand and looked behind him at Clara, who was standing there shocked with her wand out and ready to go at any moment now. Hermione and Ronald were quick to Harry's side and it didn't take long for the young boy to wake up after being knocked out by the sudden attack. By this time Clara had left the cart and was waiting out in the hall of the train for Remus, she listened as he instructed Harry to eat the chocolate that he had given him because it would help. After Remus was done, he closed the door behind him and turned to Clara.  
  
"I'm going to have a little chat with the conductor." Remus informed her as he started to walk away. Clara watched as Remus left, only to have her quickly follow behind him as she had questions. Why did the Demintors enter the train? And what's even worse, why did they attack Harry Potter?  
  
"I honestly don't know." Remus told her, being just as confused as she was at the moment as they passed through the different compartments of the cars. Clara followed closely behind as she was still rather shaken and Remus noticed this even though she tried her best to cover up the fear that she was still feeling from the presence of the Demintors. Remus stopped and pulled her aside in the hallway and pulled forth a piece of chocolate from his pocket as he grabbed her hand and placed it softly in the palm.  
  
"Eat this, you'll feel better." he told her, smiling softly. Clara looked down at the piece of chocolate before looking back up at Remus. He removed his own hand slowly from hers and watched her as she placed the piece of chocolate to her lips and bit down into it slowly. He then proceeded to turn and head for the front of the train again with Clara still close behind him. Her mind was boggling with thoughts of everything that had happened today. Between being attacked by Sirius Black, seeing Harry Potter for the first time in 13 years, and watching as a Demintor nearly sucked the life from him, Clara knew that this year was going to be a very tedious one.

And she didn't know how long she would be able to handle it before she was over ran by her emotions and had a complete break down.


	4. I Find Some Peace And Relief In Your Smile

Clara Evans sat next to Remus Lupin in the Great Hall. She was slightly uncomfortable being there along side all her old Professors as she was now a Professor herself. She listened as Dumbledore welcomed back the students to another school year and had also warmed them about not traveling the grounds at night due to the Demintors that lurked the grounds in search for Sirius Black. Clara felt her stomach churn again at the mention of Sirius's name as she remembered being attacked by him this morning without warning in the woods. She felt a slight twinge of pain shoot through her shoulder as her memories tormented her with the attack. After Dumbledore was finished, he introduced the two new teachers who would be taking over their Defense Against the Dark Arts class.  
  
"Let us hear it for our new Defense Against the Dark Arts Professors! First will be your main Professor, Professor Remus Lupin." At the call of his name Remus stood up and took a slight bow to all the students who were clapping for him. When the hall became silent again, Dumbledore continued with introductions.  
  
"And let us also not forget, Professor Lupin's assistant! Professor Clara Evans." It was Clara's turn to stand up as she gave a slightly awkward wave to everyone before quickly sitting back down in her chair. Remus looked at her and gave her a small smile, knowing that she was never one for attention. Clara was a simple girl who loved her privacy and what little piece of quiet she could obtain for herself. But, he had faith in her that she would be able to pull off the job without failure when it came to her turn in having to take control of things. After a while Clara started to grow easy with seeing everyone again, though she still found it strange that she was now on the same level with the rest of the Professors.  
  
After the dinner in the Great Hall, it was time to head off to bed, and after today's events Clara most certainly needed it. But, it seemed that before she would be able to head off to bed, someone wished for a moment of her time. As Remus and herself were just getting ready to head to their classroom, which their own room was found just above the classroom, they were stopped by the call of Clara's name.  
  
"Clara Evans." Clara turned, seeing her old Professor and House Leader walking over to her and opening up her arms to greet her old student. Clara gave a small smile as she embraced the only person, besides Dumbledore, that helped her through her trying times at Hogwarts. Professor McGonagall pulled away with a rather large smile on her old face, causing the wrinkles around her lips to form with her smile.  
  
"How have you been dear?" McGonagall asked, looking at the girl before her with saddened eyes. Clara shrugged and turned back to look at Lupin with a smile, which he returned almost instantly.  
  
"I've been well thank to friends." McGonagall glanced Lupin's way before her eyes flickered back to Clara, who looked back at McGonagall before she noticed the way her eyes darted between herself and Lupin.  
  
"That's good to hear dear. I'm very happy to see you back and ready to teach. I always knew that you were a wonderful student and I had hoped to one day see you here as a Professor yourself." Clara couldn't help but smile. McGonagall was always very kind and understanding when it came to Clara and she was happy that she had gotten sorted into Gryffindor and had gotten to know McGonagall in the way she did. McGonagall then bid her farewells to both of them before she herself continued down the hall to escort some new students to their rightful rooms.  
  
The first thing that Clara realized was, that she didn't miss upon her return, were the crowded hallways as students bustled around her and Remus while they tried to get to their hallway for their classroom. Once they were finally free from the crowd and in an empty hallway Remus couldn't help but smile as he heard Clara give a deep sigh of relief and swung her bag around slightly enjoying the freedom of space that she now had to move around instead of being bumped into and knocked about by other people.  
  
"Something wrong, Clara?" Clara knew that tone in Remus's voice. It was the tone that he already knew the answer to the question, but out of fun decided to ask the question anyway. Clara shook her head and muttered something about _hallways being packed_ which only added to Remus's amusement. Clara was never one for crowds, then again Remus was the same way, but he found it funny with the way she would act when it came down to it.  
  
When they arrived to their office they went on inside and started to unpack their belongings, with the help of magic of course, and it wasn't until Clara had thought about it did she stop what she was doing and looked over in the second room that connected to the office; the bedroom. Clara felt her cheeks heat up slightly as her eyes caught the full-size bed, and it just happened to be the only bed in the whole room. Clara quickly shook her head and was able to calm her heart before Remus entered the room after noticing her missing and her things had been laying about in the other room. Before Remus could question her as to what had caught her eye it was then when he too spotted the bed.  
  
"Well, this is a rather unusual predicament wouldn't you say?" Clara just looked up at Remus before shaking her head and giving a tired sigh. After everything that had happened today, this bed situation was the least of her worries. And she showed Remus just how low this was on her list when she slowly walked over to the edge and plopped down onto one side of the bed face-first. She could have sworn she heard Remus chuckle from behind, but her mind was too tired to be for sure. She gave a long yawn before pushing herself onto the bed the right way and found herself laying there and looking at Remus, who was still standing in the doorway where she had left him.  
  
"I don't really care anymore." she told him bluntly. This time she knew he chuckled as she watched his face expression change and shook his head. His hands were in his pockets as he leaned up against the door frame as he looked over at Clara, who laid on the bed looking at him. Remus suddenly pushed himself off the door and closed it slowly behind him. Once making sure it was shut, he turned to look back at Clara, who was still watching his every move from the bed. Her eyes followed him across the room as he shuffled over to the dresser at that in the middle of the wall across from the bed. Her eyes left him quickly after watching him remove his shoes and watching as he went to unbutton his shirt. For some strange reason, Clara could feel her heart start to race again in her chest from knowing that Remus was starting to undress in the same room as her. She knew he wouldn't completely undress in front of her, he was old fashioned and slept in his nightly attire, so she didn't understand why her chest was beating so loudly right now.  
  
Hearing Remus sigh was when she looked over at him and had found out that she was right. He was dressed in his usual night time attire that consisted of his white and blue striped sleeping pants, and a white sleeveless shirt, and his blue thin house robe thrown over top, though the robe was laid on the chair next to the bed inside of being worn to bed. As Remus approached the bed he stopped right before climbing into the other side and this caused Clara to roll over and look up at him with a questionable look.  
  
"I can take the couch in the office if you're not comfortable about this." Remus informed her. She looked up at him with a rather hurt look, was Remus really so unsure about simply sharing a bed with her for sleeping purposes only? Maybe it had some silly thing to do with him knowing her since she was little, but they were friends weren't they? She would think that he wouldn't let such a silly thing like that bother him and he wouldn't worry about something such as this bed sharing deal.  
  
"Remus, you're not sleeping on the couch. You won't get a good nights sleep if you sleep on that small thing." Clara told him, pushing herself up into a sitting position on the bed and gave him a rather serious look. Remus scratched the back of his head as if to think twice about it, that was until he reached down and pulled down the covers on the bed and proceeded to lay down on his side. They both had to admit, the bed was much smaller with two people laying down in it, but as long as they both stuck to the edges of the bed then things should be fine.  
  
Clara just wasn't in the mood for getting up and putting on her sleeping clothes, she was just too tired. So instead she kicked off her shoes and took off her coat which left her in only her light grey cackies and the long white sleeve button up shirt. Remus's eyes landed on her wounded shoulder before he sat up slightly and looked at her. Clara wasn't sure what had caught his eye until she had noticed that the bandage had bled through with a fresh opening which caused it to soak through her shirt.  
  
"Here, let me see." Remus told her, sitting up better and rolling up her sleeve to remove the old bandage. He frowned deeply, the wound was healing but he knew it would leave a nasty scar in its place. He pulled the covers off him as he removed his self from the bed and left the room to grab new bandages and returned to put them on the wound. He was careful of the wound like always and it didn't take long before he had it wrapped again.  
  
"Thank you, Remus." Remus nodded. Rolling down her sleeve before he placed what was left of the bandages over on the nightstand next to the bed and laying down again. He looked at her once more before closing his eyes and trying to drift off to sleep. As Clara went to lay down under the covers next to Remus she found it hard to not have her mind wander on the events that happened today. Between everything that's happen Clara started to piece together the parts of the puzzle that was bothering her so much.  
  
It was the next morning and Clara had found herself helping Remus prepare the classroom for their first day of class before breakfast that was to be served in the Great Hall. After a nearly sleepless night, due to Clara's mind boggling with all those thoughts, she gave a large yawn which attracted Remus's attention.  
  
"Didn't sleep well?" Clara shook her head. Remus frowned slightly as he walked up to the young woman and placed his hand around her right shoulder. She looked up at him as his hand lingered around the bite mark that was slowly turning into a scar that was to be hidden underneath her long white shirt.  
  
"Was it because you were in pain... or a different reason?" Clara looked up at Remus, his eyes held a slight fear of worry in them as he awaited her answer. Clara looked back down at the stack of books she had been sorting through this morning before class.  
  
"I was thinking most of the night. The bite hasn't bothered me after the few hours I had gotten it."  
  
"And what was on your mind that kept you up last night, if you don't mind my asking?" Clara gave a slight chuckle at the way Remus had politely asked his question. Her deep green orbs looked away from the books and at him as a small smile appeared on her face.  
  
"Oh, just things here and there. Mainly about how class was going to go today." she lied, though Remus never knew the difference because she was so good at hiding her actual feelings when needed. Though, Remus had his doubts at times but luckily for here this wasn't one of those times. There was no way she could really tell him about the events that pledged her mind, she wouldn't allow him to worry anymore about anything that he didn't need to worry over.  
  
"Well, I'm sure that you'll do an amazing job today helping me with class." Remus reassured her with a light squeeze around her shoulder before he let her get back to her work as he wandered off to find something to do himself before breakfast.  
  
Walking into the Great Hall for the second time Clara was starting to get use to being back at Hogwarts. She walked beside Remus as the two of them headed up to the table with the rest of the Professors. Dumbledore nodded at the both of them as they approached the table, but it wasn't Dumbledore who Clara currently had her eyes on at the moment. No, it was Severus Snape who Clara currently had her eyes on. The way Snape looked at her was enough to send chills down her spine as he looked at her like he was trying to figure something out about her. Snape was her old Professor, and she never really much cared for the man who, Remus had told her once before, drabbled a bit too much in the Dark Arts for his liking. But, Remus showed no hostilities toward Snape so Clara really never paid all that much mind to the man after learning that little bit from Snape's past. Still, the way he looked at her made her feel uneasy and very awkward.  
  
Taking her seat next to Remus the two of them ate while Clara listened as Remus started chatting with one of the other teachers next to him. And with Clara being Clara, she was off in her own little world as she continued to think about yesterdays events. It wasn't until a question came her way from Dumbledore was she pulled from her thoughts and brought back into the real world with everyone else.  
  
"Clara, how have you been my dear?" Dumbledore asked, peeking over at her from across the table. Clara leaned over slightly to get a better view of the elderly wizard as she laced her face with a smile.  
  
"I've been well. Thank you for asking. How have you been sir?" Dumbledore just chuckled and made a joke about doing well for an old man like himself. The table chuckled lightly and everyone seemed to go back to their own thing.  
  
After breakfast Remus and Clara returned to their classroom and prepared for their first wave of student for the day. Clara sat in the back corner of the room and watched as the students all piled in one by one and she noticed two individuals that really stuck out to her. Ronald, Hermione, and Harry, they were all three in Remus's class on the first day. As Clara watched everyone take their seats, she couldn't help but feel a pair of eyes on her and looked over to see that it was Harry who was looking at her from across the room. When she caught him looking at her, he quickly turned away and looked somewhere else within the room.  
  
"Good morning class!" Remus said, entering the room with an apple in his hand from breakfast this morning. The class looked at him and watched and listened as he explained the events that would be taking place today. Clara sat behind Remus's desk as he stood in front of it, leaning against it and addressing the class as if it was something that came natural to him. Clara smiled, she never knew Remus could look this happy before as he talked among the students about various things. Then, one student raised their hand and Remus had called upon them.  
  
"What exactly would be the best way to go about defending yourself if you were to come upon a dark woodland creature?" Remus smiled and raised his finger as he pushed his body off the desk.  
  
"That is a very good question! I believe the best one to answer that question would be Professor Evans," Remus said, drawing the attention to Clara, who looked up at the class and noticed that they were all looking back at her.  
  
"Fire. Fire is your best bet against a woodland creature." she told them. Remus nodded, walking around to the side of the desk and leaning over it and looking down at Clara with a smile on his face.  
  
"And why is fire a good choice, _Professor_?" Clara couldn't help but smirk and give a light chuckle before she looked over at Remus. She knew that tone in his voice and she knew he was testing her on her skills.  
  
"Because, _Professor_ a woodland creature is that of the woods. You light the woods on fire and what happens? It dies. You light a woodland creature on fire, and it will kill it faster than any other spell." Remus looked from her and she had caught that look of the profoundness that shown in them from her answer. He then looked to the class and nodded with that same smile on his lips.  
  
"Very good! Now, let's say you're out in the open-" Remus's voice slowly faded out as Clara's attention fell from the current lesson and found her eyes wandering back to Harry Potter, who was paying attention to Remus at the moment. She was glad, she didn't know what she would do if their eyes had met for a second time that day. It didn't take long for the class hour to quickly pass and the students seemed to nearly fly out the door after class was over. Clara couldn't help but chuckle as she watched as they were quick to leave, which reminded her of her days back here as a student. It was the same for everyone back then too, they were all too happy to leave class to go on about doing whatever it was that they wanted to do in their free time.  
  
"Well, how was my first day?" Remus asked, walking up behind Clara and with a wave of his wand helped her to put back the text books. Clara smiled and gave a light laugh as she put her back to one of the desks to face Remus fully.  
  
"You did an excellent job, Remus." Remus smiled while he placed his hands in his pockets before looking around the room slightly. It seemed that this place didn't only effect Clara, but Remus as well. She noticed the look in his eyes as if to remember his own days here at Hogwarts when he was younger and just on his way of learning to be the wizard he was today.  
  
"I honestly wish I had you as a Professor when I was in school. Snape wasn't the best of teachers when it came to the Dark Arts." Clara informed him, causing Remus to chuckle slightly and nod his head.  
  
"He is a bit stiff isn't he?"  
  
"A bit more than just _stiff_ he's also very rude and rather strange." Remus shook his head and removed his hands from his pockets as he proceeded to wrap his arm around Clara's shoulders and pull her into walking with him through the classroom. She smiled, enjoying the feeling of being so close to him like this it was nice to know that someone cared about her.  
  
"I was thinking, why not we take a walk around the grounds? Just the two of us and see what's still around this place since the last time we've been here. Afterwords was can go to Hogsmade and grab a drink and a bite to eat. How does that sound to you?" Clara felt a sly smirk come to her lips as she looked up at Remus and they stopped their walking.  
  
"I'd enjoy that a lot, Remus." Remus nodded, a large smile on his own lips as he pulled her closer to him. Clara couldn't help but feel at ease being so close to Remus. And his smile, she always adored his smile and felt so at peace whenever he would smile at her that way. As the two of them continued to walk together through the classroom they started to head out and see just what these old castle walls still held for the both of them.


	5. Find Me Here In Your Arms It's Where I Want To Be

"I don't see what this has anything to do with me." Clara stated, currently in a lower tower level with one of the men she just could _not_ stand being around. Severus Snape was that man. From his dark appearance to his even darker personality, Snape was always a backwards man to her and she always made it her top priority to avoid him at all cost. But today it seemed like that just wasn't an option as he had pulled her aside and had asked to speak with her, Professor to Professor. Snape stood in the middle of the room, his hands folded together as he stared her down with that same look he had always given her while she was in his classes.  
  
"It has _everything_ to do with you, Clara Evans." Clara sighed. Snape hadn't been making much sense since he started speaking to her. It was as if he was trying to tell her something without actually telling her. She shook her head and shrugged her shoulders, she didn't have a clue about what he was trying to tell her.  
  
"I'm not a student anymore, Snape. So, stop playing games with me and just tell me whatever it is that you're trying to tell me." Snape suddenly swooped in and nearly cornered Clara as she quickly stepped backwards and nearly falling onto her bottom.  
  
" _Lexicon Wolfsbane_ , do you know how to make it!" Clara found her back against the wall as Snape's advance toward her finally stopped. She swallowed hard as she thought about it for a moment.  
  
"O-of course I know how to make it!" she stated bluntly. Snape then gave a slight smirk that made Clara knew something was up. He pulled away from her and turned around, walking slowly to the door that lead to the stairwell.  
  
"Good, you can assist Mr. Potter in making the potion tonight." Clara's mouth dropped. So that was the reason why Snape was so persistent with wanting to know if she knew how to make the potion. She cursed under her breath as she thought about having to be locked in a room for Merlin know how long with both Snape and Harry, though she didn't find Harry to be as bad as Snape, but she knew he would ask her questions the first chance he had gotten. It was shortly after Snape left did it dawn on Clara, why in the world did Snape need help to teaching Harry how to make Wolfsbane. She gasped, her brain finally clicking on why Snape would be trying to teach Harry such a hard potion. Clara flew toward the stairwell and raced up it, running all the way to Remus's office and not stopping until she arrived.  
  
"Remus, I have to tell you some-... thing." Clara's breath hitched in the back of her throat when she had forgotten that Remus had class at the moment, and she had just burst into the classroom nearly out of breath as she had ran all the way here. Everyone's eyes had fallen on her and it made her feel awkward as could be. Remus himself was looking at her rather confused as he stood in front of a closet that continued to jump every so often.  
  
"Clara? What's wrong?" Remus asked, concern and confusing ringing clear in his voice. Clara made her way through the class rather quickly as she had gotten to Remus's side and cupped her hand so nobody could hear her when she went to whisper into his ear.  
  
" _I've got something important to tell you, but not right now. Later on after class._ " Remus pulled away from her and looked even more confused than before, but decided to let it be for now figuring that if it was something truly important she would have pulled him into the office and told him there. Leaving the subject for now, he turned back to the class and apologized for the sudden distraction as he gave a laugh while looking between Clara and the class.  
  
"Now, as I was saying before! Bogarts' are nasty little beasts that take shape of your deepest fear." Clara stood off to the side and watched as Remus explained the spell and how to deal with a Bogart. Once he was done, he turned to Clara and beckoned her forth.  
  
"Professor Evans, if you would demonstrate to the class on how to deal with one?" Clara stepped forward with her wand in her hand and tapping it slightly in her opposite palm as she looked out among the class.  
  
"The best way to deal with a Bogart is through laughter. Bogarts are created to take form of something that you fear the most. Well, to undo that fear you need to think of something clear and something that you find funny. For example!" Clara turned to the closet and waited for Remus to open it. They locked eyes for a split second before Remus used the spell to unlock the wardrobe and it opened to the pitch blackness from within. Clara stood there for a moment, there was only one of two things that would come out of that closet and she hoped that it wasn't the first one she was thinking about. Luckily, it wasn't.  
  
Clara watched as she was met with a pair of yellow eyes as out slinked a large black hound. It bared its teeth at her and growled deeply as it approached her slowly and had the look to kill. Clara held her ground and with a flick of her wand she shouted the spell out very clearly, _Riddikulus_ , and the hound changed from the large black beast to a very small and fur-less dog that was smaller than a football. The whole class broke out into fits of laughter as the dog gave a few high pitched barks, no longer able to grow or even be slightly intimidating anymore.  
  
"Very good, Clara!" Remus said, though he didn't seem nearly as amused as the rest of the class. Though how could he, now knowing that her greatest fear was none other than Sirius Black. Clara then stepped aside and allowed the rest of the class to give it a try. Clara watched from the sidelines with Remus, who started to play some funny music to set the mood with the class, and waited as everyone went through taking a turn. Next up was Harry Potter. Clara felt her blood run cold as she feared that the Bogart would turn into Voldemort. However, she was very surprised when it had turned into a Demintor instead. Remus was quick to jump forth and have the Bogart change into his deepest fear; a full-moon. Clara felt her heart sink, knowing that it wasn't his fault for what happened during the full-moon, and knowing that he feared the full-moon above all else just hurt her.  
  
"Eh, well, that's all for today! Don't want to have too much of a good thing!" Remus told the class apologizing over and over again and asking them to gather up their books and gave them permission to leave. Once the last student left, Clara watched Remus from her spot by the record player. Remus turned to her before he approached her slowly, stopping right before her with a small smile on his lips.  
  
"Now, what was so important that it had you bashing into my classroom and disrupting it?" he joked. Clara frowned deeply and reached down for his hand as she took it in her and started to pull him toward his office. Once inside the office she shut the door behind her and turned to look at Remus, who was looking a bit more concerned now than before.  
  
"Snape approached me this afternoon," Clara started, causing Remus to raise a brow. She sighed, not really knowing on how to go about this whole situation so she just came out and said it.  
  
"He wanted to know if I knew how to make Wolfsbane. When I told him I did in fact know how to make it, he then told me that I was to help Harry Potter in learning how to make it." Remus just looked at her. She felt worried as she was unable to read his expression, but she knew something was wrong. Remus placed his hands in his pockets before turning around the room as if looking for something, but she knew there was nothing that he was searching for within the room. Remus sighed, turning and leaning up against his desk slightly and looking down at the floor around his feet. Clara approached slowly from the side and stood next to him, looking at the side of his face.  
  
"Snape knows about my problem. But, to try and have Harry figure it out as well..." Clara placed her hand on his shoulder, causing him to look at her with a sad smile.  
  
"If Harry asks any questions, I won't let him know." Remus gave a small snort with a slowly growing smile, but that sad look still lingered on his face. He slowly shook his head, looking at Clara with a soften gaze.  
  
"You remind me so much of Lily. She was always able to see the good in others, even when they themselves had trouble seeing it." Remus said, looking into Clara's deep green orbs. Clara gave a small squeeze on Remus's shoulder before leaning into him lightly, not expecting to feel his arms coming around her body and holding her closely to him. It surprised her greatly, and she didn't know how to take it, but she let it be and just allowed Remus to hold her close as her head rested on his shoulder. She wasn't going to ruin a moment like this with such a silly little question that floated around in the back of her mind. This was too much of a good thing to let go.

* * *

  
"Ah, Professor Evans, how nice of you to join us." Snape greeted as he glanced up from his newspaper to watch Clara as she walked in through his door, fifteen minutes late. Clara had decided that for the evening she would have her hair up in a ponytail and tuck the remaining strands of hair back behind her ears. She wore a simple white sleeve shirt with a wool vest over it and some black slacks. She found Harry already up at the cauldron as he attempted the very hard potion of Wolfsbane, while Snape was sitting back behind his desk not that far from Harry. Harry glanced Clara's way when she entered the room and his eyes seemed to linger on her for a while, long enough to draw Snape's attention and catch Harry in the act.

"You're not going to complete that serum any sooner by staring at Professor Evans, Mr. Potter." Clara hadn't noticed the boy's eyes on her until Snape had called him out on it. Clara turned and noticed that Harry had indeed had his eyes on her before he turned his head back to the cauldron and continued to work slowly.

"Since you are finally here _Professor_ , would you mind assisting Mr. Potter. At this rate if he doesn't have some help, he'll be here all night." Harry glanced up from the cauldron and gave Snape a look, showing that he wasn't enjoying this either.

"Not at all, _Professor_." Clara mocked back, causing Snape to narrow his eyes toward her. Clara placed her bag down on a desk as she made her way to the front of the classroom and up onto the platform next to Harry and the cauldron.

"Alright, were are you so far?" Harry glanced from the cauldron and down to his book. As his fingers skimmed the page Clara focused on the steps prior to the ones he had done, unaware of Harry's flickering eyes from his book to her.

"Ah, adding the _primordial tulapesnha_." Clara said, watching where Harry's finger stopped. The two of them worked in silence for nearly twenty minutes under Snape's watchful eye. And it wasn't until Harry had decided to gain the courage to actually speak did Clara even once look at him.

"Professor?" Clara's green orbs crossed over from the pages of the text book to meet a pair of similar eyes.

"I was just wondering, how old are you exactly?" Clara raised a brow. This question certainly wasn't one she thought she would be answering from Harry.

"Mr. Potter, haven't you ever heard that it's rude to ask a lady their age?" Harry couldn't tell if that was sarcasm in her voice or not due to the fact that he didn't know her all that well. He lowered his head and apologized quickly, only to have her laugh and wave it off showing that she wasn't offended by the question.

"No, no, that's quite alright. If you really must know though, I'll be 21 this coming October."

"Aren't you a little young to be a Professor, Professor Evans?"

"Well, I suppose, since most of your other Professors taught me when I was here at Hogwarts learning to become a witch." Clara heard Snape's newspaper rustle, showing that he was indeed listening to the conversation. She couldn't help but crack a smile as she handed Harry a vile that was needed for the next ingredient.

"You went to here? At Hogwarts? What was your house?" Harry asked, taking the vile from her hands and pouring the correct amount into the cauldron.

"Gryffindor." Clara could see it in Harry's eyes that there were more questions that he wanted to ask her, but due to Snape's rather rude interruption their conversation was cut short and they continued to work for the rest of their time in silence. After about an hour the potion was finally completed, and Clara was no longer pulling her hair out as they had been successful in completing the potion correctly. Snape watched as the faint blue fums floating up from the black cauldron and lingered around in the air before he turned to both Harry and Clara.

"Well Mr. Potter, it seems that you were able to successfully make a Wolfsbane with the help of Professor Evans." Snape's eyes glanced between the two of them before his eyes landed back on Harry.

"However, from now on I will be making the potion." Clara raised a brow. What was the point in having Harry make the damn potion in the first place and having her help him in making it if Snape was going to be doing it from now on. She understood that the Wolfsbane was for Remus, and Clara was less worried knowing Remus was drinking a Wolfsbane made by Snape rather than Harry, but still.

"You are both dismissed." Snape told them with a wave of his hand. Clara rolled her eyes as she turned to leave. She gathered her bag and left Snape's classroom and headed back to her own office, but she was stopped by the call of her title. Turning around she watched as Harry was running to catch up with her. She didn't know she had left in such a hurry that she left the boy running to catch up to her.

"Professor, I have a few more things I want to ask you." Harry told her, trying to catch his breath as he was holding onto his own book bag. Clara's eyes were torn from Harry as the reflection from the moon shone in through the window, she gaze up at it through the glass and noticed that within a few more days it would be full.

"Shouldn't you be headed back to your dorm, Harry? It's rather late and you do have class tomorrow." Clara's eyes lingered on the moon, causing Harry to look at her then to the moon. He watched it for a moment with her before doing a double take before his eyes fell upon her again.

"Well the things is just," Harry said, pausing when he noticed that she still had her eyes on the moon.

"Professor?" Clara's eyes snapped away from the moon and to Harry's confused eyes.

"I'm sorry Harry, but now isn't the best time. Ask me after class tomorrow. I have to go for now." And before Harry could get a word out, Clara had turned and left him standing there in the middle of the hall. Harry still had questions he wanted to ask her, and now he had one more. Turning to look back up at the moon he watched it for a moment before looking back down the hall where Professor Evans had wandered off into and wondered what had made her want to leave so quickly?  



	6. I'll Be There With You Through It All

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for the delay in updating this story. Here is the next update, and a few more to come shortly!

A week before the full-moon, Remus had been taking his potion so that even though he would still transform into a werewolf, he at least kept his senses of his human self about him. Clara made sure that he was kept a close eye on when he would change, though she knew how much he hated her seeing him like this beast, she still made sure to be by his side. She would turn into her Doe and lay about with him in the bedroom until the end of the moon. Neither one of them spoke to one another, instead, they would both lay together somewhat curled up in one of the far corners of the room away from any doors or windows. Clara would lay up against Remus's side and rest her neck over his as they slept for the majority of the night. For Clara it was one of the hardest things for her to do. Sometimes in his sleep, Remus would whimper out as if in pain or having a nightmare which would have to cause Clara to nuzzle him awake to keep him quiet so as to not draw attention had he gotten too loud.  
  
But there was one thing that worried her majorly. She was afraid that the students would figure out about Remus's problem sooner or later due to the fact that a few days prior to tonight, the night of the full-moon, Snape had taken over the class for Remus and had attempted to teach the students the difference between an Animagus and a Werewolf.  
  
"Professor Snape, we are no where near ready to learn about this subject." Clara informed the moody man, causing him to turn toward her in front of the class and approach her.  
  
"Professor Evans, it was requested by Dumbledore that  _I_  take over the lessons, not  _you_." he spat, causing Clara to take a step back before realizing that he just reprimanded her in front of her own class, and she had taken it without argument. Snape then turned away from Clara and went back to teaching the class while Clara frowned deeply and turned to head up to the office, not knowing what else to do with Snape, and locked herself away in the office room with Remus. Remus lifted his head from his desk as he was trying to go over some papers that needed graded. He and Clara made eye contact as he noticed the look on her face before he lowered his head back to the papers and listened as she walked over to his desk and stood in front of it.  
  
"How can you be so content up here while Snape's down there trying to teach the class about Animagus's and Werewolf's?" Remus glanced up at her, still seeing the same disappointing and nearly depressed look in her eyes as when she entered the room. He placed his quill down next to the papers and gave a deep sigh with the full-moon so close Remus often grew tired and was rather short-tempered, but he was still Remus.  
  
"Snape is just trying to get to you, Clara. Which if you keep acting like that you're going to show him that it's working." Clara rolled her eyes. Snape had been trying to get to her ever since her first day at Hogwarts, this wasn't any new news to her. But, why wasn't Remus as concerned as she was about the whole Werewolf thing as she?  
  
"Aren't you worried that he's going to get the students to recognize that you're a Werewolf?" Their eyes met and Clara could see just how tired he actually looked. His eyes were somewhat sunk into his face and the bags under them seemed to be getting worse with the nearly sleepless nights he had been getting from the feelings of the approaching full-moon.  
  
"I am more worried right now about the news of Sirius Black being somewhere on the school grounds." Clara looked down at Remus's desk. It was true, that was something to worry about. Having a mass murder on the lose who had tried to attack and possibly kill Clara on the day of coming to Hogwarts and then having Sirius Black trying to kill Harry Potter. Remus shook his head and sighed, it seemed that the drawing moon was really starting to get to him and Clara could tell.  
  
"You're right, sorry."  
  
"You don't have to apologize Clara." Clara still continued to look at his desk, she just couldn't look him in the eyes at the moment as she was slightly ashamed for allowing Snape to get underneath her skin in the way he did in front of the class. Remus pushed himself away from his desk and stood, walking around to the front in order to give Clara a hug that she desperately needed right now. Clara sighed, wrapping her arms around Remus as they leaned slightly against the desk together.  
  
"You've got to stop letting little things like this get to you. You're more confident then that you really, really are Clara." Remus spoke softly in her ear. His reply was a simple nod as her chin rested on his shoulder. He sighed again, knowing that Clara was able to do so much better if she would just have faith in herself.  
  
Clara opened her eyes slightly, the sun shinning into the room. She glanced about and seen that it was no longer night and the full-moon had past. Another thing she had noticed was that she was no longer an Animagus as she must have transformed back when she was asleep. She turned her head, finding Remus still curled up next to her and sound asleep. She couldn't help but smile as the way they were laying together as Remus had his arm draped over her body and they were spooning on the floor. Her smile grew, knowing that Remus probably wouldn't approve of this if he woke up and found the two of them like this together.  
  
One reason why that might have been was because when Remus would transform and then return into a human, he would be, well a tad bit  _naked_. But after all these years of coming into his room and finding him like that on the floor, Clara would simply dart her eyes to the floor or to his face and proceed to cover him with a blanket. Feeling Remus shift against her, she listened as he sighed deeply, which after all these years living with him, she knew it was a sign that he was waking up. Slowly turning her head toward him she kept the smile on her face and then she was greeted by a pair of sleepy green eyes. Remus was always droopy after the transformations and it took him a moment to come around, but when he did she knew things were going to be a bit complicated.  
  
"Well, good morning." she greeted, only to have Remus sigh and push his head into the back of her neck. She just laid there as still as could be waiting for him to do something that showed he was aware of his surroundings, but it never happened. Instead, she felt as he did a great intake of her scent before sighing deeply and his warm breath trickled across the back of her neck sending chills down her spine. She waited a few more moments before she felt his mouth move and heard his question.  
  
"Clara?"  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"Is there a specific reason as to why I'm naked, laying on the floor holding you?" Clara couldn't help but snort before a small chuckle slipped through her lips.  
  
"Last night was the full-moon, Remus." Clara informed him, playing around his question.  
  
"That still doesn't explain my question, Clara." Remus said, his brows frowing at the lack of an answer from the girl.  
  
"I'll go fetch you your clothes." she continued to chuckle while crawling away from his hold and standing to her feet.  
  
" _Clara._ " She heard his tone that held a slight warning and much aggravation. She just chuckled again as she went over to his dresser and got his clothes. Remus, before Clara turned around, grabbed a nearby quilt and quickly wrapped it around his body to keep her from seeing anything that might have been far too personal for her to see. When she turned around and handed him his clothes they made eye contact one last time before Clara smiled and went to leave the room to allow Remus time to get dressed for class today. Remus sighed, rubbing his eyes in frustration at the awkward moment that he had just had with Clara. He knew that she was use to it by now, but for him it was still embarrassing. Not to mention that this was the first time that he had woken up, and  _naked_ mind you, to find Clara in his arms.  
  
He understood that she had transformed last night into her Doe like form and kept him company, but he hadn't expected her to sleep so closely to him. He sighed, his thoughts buzzing about in his mind as he went to button up his shirt. Normally Remus kept a level head about things, but this was just one of those things that he could not ignore and needed to confront Clara about it later on sometime today. After he had finished getting ready, Remus combed back his hair and headed for the door. Though he had a slight headache and it felt as if he was hung over from last night's transformation, he still had a job to do today and it required him to be at it in order for thing to flow smoothly today.

* * *

Clara found herself walking down through the halls of Hogwarts. It was mid October and it was rather chilly out today. She wore her overcoat and a plain dark cream scarf that was wrapped around her neck and went down both the front and back of her body. She snuggled her face into the warmth as she was preparing to venture outside onto the school grounds. As she rounded one of the corners, she spotted someone among the crowd of students. One boy who stood out among all others.  
  
"Mr. Potter," Clara called out, finding Harry walking with his two friends. Harry stopped and turned to see Clara approaching him from behind. Harry gave a faint smile and greeted her warmly.  
  
"Harry, can I speak with you for a moment please?" Clara asked, holding out her arm as if to guide Harry away from his two friends. Harry after a moment of looking between both his friends agreed and walked away with her down the halls and out into the court yard. The air hit her like a breath of fresh air and she was glad to have it. Being locked in a room all night with Remus, only to have him wake up in a most awkward of positions with her really wasn't her cup of tea.  
  
"What is it Professor?" Clara stopped walking and sat down on one of the many stones out in the yard. The yard wasn't very large, rather it was medium with a very tall tree in the middle and some brush around the surrounding area, but it was nice. Placing her feet flat up against the bottom of the stone she took a deep intake of the nice cold air before she looked at Harry and smiled.  
  
"I believe you had a question for me a week or so ago?" Harry made a face as if surprised that she had remembered him needing to speak with her after making those potions in Snape's classroom late one night. Harry looked around slowly, as if making sure that nobody else was around or listening to their conversation before he returned his eyes to her. He looked at them, they seemed for familiar and for some reason it put him at ease when he looked into them.  
  
"I was just wondering, how much do you know about four students that use to attend here named Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs?" Clara took a moment as she tried thinking her hardest as she had indeed heard those names used somewhere before, but she was so young that it was hard for her to remember.  _Then, suddenly, it clicked._  Her eyes flickered up to Harry and he seemed just as confused as she.  
  
"Well, I'm no history teacher, Harry. But, might I ask how you came to know about those names?" Harry seemed to waver slightly, as if unsure if he should tell her the truth or not as to how he came about those names. When he didn't say anything, she figured that he wasn't going to give her an answer. She didn't blame him as they didn't know each other well enough, well at least Harry didn't know  _her_ well enough, so if he had found out something important about the four boys then he certainly wasn't going to tell her.  
  
"I believe Professor Lupin would be much more well equipped to tell you about those four, after all they were in his class years." Harry nodded. A small shiver went through his body as the wind whipped around the both of them. Clara had seen this and stood up from her rock and undone her scarf before leaning over and wrapping it around Harry's neck. He seemed a bit taken back by the kind gesture and looked to her smiling face after she finished applying the scarf to his neck.  
  
"Now, was there was anything else that I can try to help you?" Harry shook his head before he took a deep breath of the cold fall air.  
  
"No Professor, but thank you." Clara nodded. Shortly afterwords Clara shooed the boy back inside the school before he caught a cold. Harry went to return her scarf to her but she shook her head and told him to give it back to her during a warmer date. Harry just smiled and ran along,  
back inside of the school and off to re-find his friends. Clara couldn't help but feel a smile slip to her lips as she felt a slight twinge of happiness flow into her cold body.

* * *

  
When Clara returned to the classroom late one night, she didn't expect to find both Harry and Remus in front of a trunk that held the Bogart. She had just been patrolling the grounds and had decided that it was well enough for tonight, only to return to find both of them here like this with their wands drawn.  
  
"Harry, what a present surprise to see you." Harry gave a slight smile as he nodded.  
  
"Same to you, Professor." She smiled, he was a rather shy boy in his free time and not being provoked by others. She couldn't help but see just how much opposite the two of them were when it came to this little fact. Clara was the quiet type when around others, unless she knew them well enough to express herself. Harry on the other hand didn't care what others thought about him and did and said as he pleased, but when it came to being face to face he seemed to take a step back and just slow down.  
  
"Harry and I were just getting some practice in tonight." Remus informed Clara with a slight smile, tapping his wand in the palm of his hand. Clara with her hands on her hips raised a brow and smiled slightly as she looked between the both of them.  
  
"Oh really? And what is it that Mr. Potter is practicing tonight?"  
  
"The  _Expecto Patronum Scrotum_." Harry informed her, causing her eyes to land on Remus as her mouth was slightly open.  
  
"This is because of the Demintor attack I presume?" Harry nodded. Clara understood that he wanted to learn the spell to be able to protect himself. But even she knew just how difficult the spell was to cast and how long it would take to learn the spell and be able to cast it to its full power. She had been one of the lucky ones to learn it so quickly as she was fueled by the want to be able to keep an eye on someone she cared for and protect them. She glanced over at Remus, knowing that he knew exactly what she was thinking and his smile grew and he laughed sightly.  
  
"Harry is progressing rather well actually. He's nearly as good as you were when you started learning the spell at his age." Harry looked at Clara, he didn't know that she too also knew how to do the spell or that she started learning it around his age.  
  
"Is it true? That you started learning the spell around my age?"  
  
"It couldn't be more so. Clara was so determined to learn this difficult spell that I honestly believe she went an entire week without sleep." Remus chuckled, causing Clara to smirk slightly and look at him with a rather playful expression.  
  
"Actually, it was a week and a half." she joked, causing both Harry and Remus to chuckle. Harry watched Clara joking about with Remus, he noticed how close the two of them seemed to be with one another. Outside of class they weren't so different than in the classroom environment. They joked with one another, laughed, and they even seemed very happy with each other. Harry looked to Clara and noticed just how much Remus made her smile and in turn how much she made him smile. Harry didn't think anything of it at the moment, just putting it off as they were great friends like how he was with Hermione.  
  
"But seriously Harry, good luck with learning the spell. It's a bit difficult at first and you really have to give it a good and warm memory. One of your happiest moments that you can possibly think about, one that fills you to the brim with warmth and one that you'll never forget." Clara explained to the young man standing before her with his wand at his side. Harry nodded, understanding that he really had to give it his best.  
  
"And with a good mentor like Remus here, you'll have no problems in learning your spell." Clara finished, placing her hand on the boy's head and ruffling up his hair with affection before walking on past him and Remus, heading up to the bedroom to turn in for tonight. Clara was up in the room preparing for bed as she engaged in her nightly ritual. Bathing, changing into her night time attire - which was nothing but an over-sized black shirt that went to her knees accompanied by a pair of black and grey checkered sleeping pants - brushed her teeth, and headed back into the bedroom for bed. When she opened up the bathroom door and headed into the bedroom she was surprised to see Remus already in there sitting on the edge of her side of the bed, which had him facing her, as she exited the bathroom.  
  
"Did you finish up the lesson for tonight?" Clara asked, standing there in the doorway to the bathroom. Remus nodded slightly as he sat on the bed. He seemed slightly taken back by something as he sat there slumping forward with his arms resting on his knees and his hands outstretched and cupped together. Remus's deep green eyes looked into Clara's slightly brighter ones as the two of them just looked at each other in silence. Clara knew something was up now, Remus normally didn't act like this unless something was bothering him. Normally they could carry on a conversation without problem or fail, but tonight was different and she knew it and he knew she knew it.  
  
"About this morning," Remus started, watching as Clara lowered her head and shook it as she gave a slight chuckle. So that's what was bothering Remus so badly? Honestly, it wasn't even that big of a deal to her. So what if they woke up and he was holding her? Was it really such a bad thing to wake up to in the morning? Clara felt her heart skip a beat as she found her mind going back to thinking about this morning. Why did she feel so strange when her mind landed on that one simple thought?  
  
"So that's what's got you all like this? Honestly, it's not that big of a deal." Remus just looked at her with disbelief. It wasn't that big of a deal? Was she serious? With the way they were laying and how he was lacking clothes... and it  _wasn't a bit deal_? Remus watched from the bed as Clara moved out from underneath the door frame and made her way across the wooden floors barefoot. She stopped right before Remus and looked down at him with a sad expression.  
  
"I was there to keep you company last night. It's not like anything happened that we both regretted, right?" The look in her eyes told him that she hoped his answer would be what she expected. Remus looked up at her, he took looked a bit saddened by her very question.  
  
"No, no of course not. I'm more than grateful that you staid with me last night. It's just I didn't expect to wake up to-"  
  
"Me in your arms?" Remus's mouth opened slightly after Clara had finished his sentence for him. He shook his head and sighed lightly as his head dropped as if ashamed and no longer able to look at her. She felt saddened, saddened for Remus more than anything else. She placed her hands on his shoulders before sliding her arms around his neck and holding him against her. She didn't really know if this would help, but she had to try something to make him feel better about himself. Since she had known Remus, he had always been alone and never gave anyone a chance to really get near him except a few close friends. Clara always felt so sad for him because in turn he was much like herself, he didn't really have anyone who cared for him. They had each other, but it just wasn't the same. Remus had more or less raised Clara for the most of her life and had grown attached to the much younger woman. It was the same for Clara, when her world was darkest Remus had come from out of the darkness and helped to protect her, raise her, and cherish her.  
  
She felt his arms come up and wrap themselves around her waist and pull her into him. They staid like that for what seemed like a lifetime as no more words were exchanged between the two of them and they just kept still and held one another. Clara closed her eyes and placed her chin on the top of his head, feeling his head move she leaned back and found him looking up at her. She gave a small smile as if to show him that everything was going to be okay in the end. Then slowly a smile formed on his lips as he took a slow and deep sigh as they looked into each others eyes. And it was in that moment that something seemed to click in the both of their heads at the same time in the same way. Something that neither one of them seemed to take notice until now. Something that they just couldn't find the words to explain, but they knew what it was without uttering a single word to one another.  
  
Slowly, Remus leaned back on the bed and brought Clara with him. She laid there next to him on the bed, his arms wrapped around her waist while she rested her head on his shoulder and placed her hand on his chest. The two of them laid like this together until they both fell asleep just like that right next to each other.


	7. Now That I Am Stronger I Have Figured Out

Clara could hardly believe just how quickly the school year had went, it seemed almost like yesterday when she had her doubts about returning here to the grand old school, and now she was more confident than ever. She had the chance to assist in teaching a bunch of bright students and reconnecting with some of her old teachers. Even more so, Clara slowly found herself becoming more attached to the young boy, Harry Potter. Harry still had no idea that she and he were cousins, and she was happy even if he never really found out about her. She wasn't one to jump and point out the facts that nobody knew, especially when it was such a serious or touchy subject. She found Harry coming to her more and more as the school year went on, and one afternoon she found him and his two friends all out on the grounds with her. Clara quickly grew attached to Hermione, she understood where the girl came from as Clara herself was a Mudblood; though she never enjoyed the term used.  
  
Ron soon found out that Clara knew his father and his two twin brothers Fred and George after meeting them one day when his father had introduced the three of them to each other. Clara also shared some common interest between all three of them, such as the love for Quiddich, learning and studding, and over all a deep friendship.  
  
"So, where are you from Professor?" Hermione asked one day during one of their free periods. During these times, the four of them could be found walking the grounds together, so long as Clara didn't have a class to teach. Clara glanced Hermione's way, not expecting her to ask the personal type of question. She could feel all three of their eyes on her while she walked beside them, watching her as they waited for the question to be answered.  
  
"Well, I live only a couple of blocks away from Professor Lupin." she told them, causing a flow of questions to continue from one of the three of them; though mainly from Hermione. Their walks were always long, about one lap around the whole castle grounds - that excluded the forest - so it gave them time to talk to one another. And today, Hermione seemed quiet interested in Clara's personal life and it was much more than usual.  
  
"Is that how you know Professor Lupin?" Clara gave a slight shrug before she shook her head and kept her eyes forward on the walk. The ground was very uneven at the moment as they started to approach the area around Hagrids's home so it became slightly difficult to walk around if you weren't careful.  
  
"I was actually taken in by Remus shortly after I lost my family." The trio gave her a saddened look as they didn't expect her to answer the question like with something such as that. Harry took a few larger steps forward so as to be almost even with Clara as he walked beside her, glancing up at her every few seconds as he too had to watch where he placed his footing.  
  
"If you don't mind my asking Professor, what happened to them?" Clara felt her heart sting, knowing that Harry still didn't know that he and her were related and that she was actually talking about Lily and James; Harry's own parents. Clara took a deep breath of the air into her lungs, the air was cold and burned the warm walls of her insides as she continued to hike along the grounds, nearly out of breath by now.  
  
"They were betrayed one night by someone who they thought was their friend, and then killed by Voldemort." She listened as the sound of three pairs of footsteps suddenly vanished from the air and indicated that Harry, Ron, and Hermione had all stopped walking as Clara kept going.  
  
"Professor?" Harry's voice called out through the wind, causing Clara to stop just a few feet away from them. She turned around and faced them, their expressions all different but held the same emotion; realization.  
  
"What were their names? Your family who was betrayed and killed by Voldemort?" Clara looked back into Harry's eyes in the stand off that the two of them took place in with one another. Clara's face held a frown, doubt clouded the back of her mind before she gave a faint smile and she turned her eyes toward Hogwarts that was setting off in the distance up the hill a ways away. She stuck her hands in her coat pockets before swaying back in forth slightly showing that she was pondering on the question. She chuckled slightly and looked back at the trio, but mainly Harry, and smiled.  
  
"Now that Mr. Potter, is something that you'll have to figure out on your own if you really want to know."

* * *

  
After the walk that afternoon Clara headed into the Great Halls for some lunch and found that she was the last Professor to arrive at the table. When she walked over to take her seat, Remus was quick to catch her ear as he spoke to her in a low-leveled voice that only she could hear.  
  
"I think you should know that I was approached by a boy named Harry Potter about half an hour ago, outside on the old bridge, who started asking  _a lot_  of questions about your personal life." Clara looked to Remus, knowing what Harry had already asked him and wondered if Remus had told him anything.  
  
"And? What did you tell him?" Remus smiled  and chuckled deeply as he rested his elbows on the table and looked back at Clara.  
  
"I told him that if you hadn't told him, then it was something that he didn't need to know at the time. But, maybe later in life you would one day tell him what he wants to know." Clara felt a wave of relief wash over her. She didn't think Remus would ever betray her loyalty, he knew how much Harry meant to her and she didn't know how he would react to finding out that she was his last remaining relative that cared for him, even though there was Sirius Black, who was still appointed as Harry's Godfather. But Sirius just couldn't be trusted after everything that had happened. And now that he had escaped from Azkaban and was out to finish what he started, Clara had to be more than ready to protect Harry at all cost, and she couldn't allow Harry's emotions to get into the way if he were to find out about her.  
  
She had a duty to protect him, though it was unspoken and something that not even Remus knew about, she knew that she couldn't allow anything to happen to the boy. He was the son of the only couple that had seen her as a human being and had taken her in and raised her as their own without any questions asked. How could she ever live with herself knowing that something had happened to Harry that she could have prevented in the end? Clara gave Remus a small smile and nodded.  
  
"Thank you, Remus." Remus returned the same gesture and went back to eating and talking among the other Professors. Clara also returned to eating her own food and chatting among everyone else. But, little did she know that a pair of green eyes from the crowd of students were on her during the whole conversation.

* * *

A few days later, Clara walked into the office that she and Remus both shared with her arms full of books. She had just returned from the library with some new reading material so as to spend her time a bit more wisely. As she walked past his desk she stopped and noticed that Remus was sitting in his chair looking very intently at rather large piece of parchment. She became rather curious and stopped in her tracks, turning to face him she tried to glance at what was on the paper that he looked over with such interest.  
  
"What is that?" Remus's eyes never moved from the paper as he rubbed his chin against his folded hands as his mind seemed to be in full motion. Clara raised a brow as she placed her books down on a chair not too far from her and walked over to the desk to see just what was so intriguing about this paper. When her eyes landed on it she noticed it was some sort of map of Hogwarts, but it wasn't just any map it seemed. She watched as little black inked foot prints moved across the paper with names underneath them. She watched as "Severus Snape" moved down one of the hallways of the building and "Harry Potter" went down another.  
  
"A map?" Clara questioned, her eyes darting from the map to Remus. Remus nodded, though his eyes never left the old looking parchment. Clara's eyes then caught the title of the map and she quickly put two and two together when she read it out loud.

" _Messrs. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs_  
Purveyors of Aids to Magical Mischief-Makers  
are proud to present  
THE MARAUDER'S MAP"

Clara looked to Remus after reading and noticed that he was now looking at her and no longer the map. Her brows frowed together as many questions were raised as she slowly started to piece together everything about this map.  
  
"This is yours?" she asked pointing to the name  _Moony_ that was written on the parchment. Remus leaned back in his chair a bit and sighed while giving a nod of his head. His hand running over the bottom of his chin as he still looked to be deep in thought about the whole thing.  
  
"Snape called me to his office and showed it to me. When I noticed what it was I took it without telling him what it actually was, he didn't know that it was this type of map." Remus explained, only causing Clara more confusion about how this map, if it belonged to Remus, came into the hands of Snape. As if already knowing her question Remus went ahead and answered it without her even asking.  
  
"Snape had confiscated it from Harry the other night. I talked with Harry the other day about how disappointed I was with him for not turning something like this in right away. Had this map fallen into the hands of Sirius Black, it would be a straight way to Harry... But," Clara stood there and waited for Remus to continue. She knew he had been thinking long and hard about something and she wanted to know what it was he had been spending so much time pondering over. Not knowing something like this always use to kill her, and it only seemed to start getting worse the older she got and the more she came to learn about certain things in life.  
  
"I'm not so sure about Sirius Black anymore."  
  
"What do you mean you're not sure about Sirius Black anymore?" Clara questioned as she felt her heart rate slowly start to increase. What did Remus mean by this?  
  
"I'm not so sure he rated on Lily and James." Clara felt her breath hitch in the back of her throat. Surely he wasn't suggesting that he was starting to think differently on Black? With what proof would cause Remus to suddenly change his mind on thinking that Black was innocent. Clara's emotions went hay wire at this point as a stinging and nearly numbing pain came from her right shoulder as she recalled her near death attack that was caused by Sirius Black.  
  
"You can't be serious Remus! Aren't you forgetting that he nearly killed me in the woods the morning that we left to came here or the fact that he's out to kill Harry?" Remus shook his head and held up both of his hands while he looked up at Clara.  
  
"I know what you're thinking Clara, and you have every right to think this but I think I have proof. I've been watching this map and someone that you and I both believed to be dead appeared on this map last night." Clara threw her hands up in the air and turned away before turning back as she didn't know what to do or say as she pointed down toward the map.  
  
"Well, maybe the stupid map is broken or lying!"  
  
"Clara, I helped in making this map and the map  _never_ lies." Remus informed her. Removing his self from the chair and walking around his desk to her as he watched her while she seemed to start having a small panic attack. He placed both hands on her shoulders and tried to reassure her that he knew what he was talking about and that she had to trust him on this. She shook her head frantically and looked up to him as her fingers slowly woven their way into his shirt as if she was trying to find some type of hold to make her feel better.  
  
"Then who? Who has shown up on that map who is suppose to be dead?" Remus's expression was a mixture of seriousness and sadness. His hands grasped her shoulders slightly tighter than before as they never broke eye contact as Remus took a deep breath and sighed.  
  
" _Peter Pettigrew_." Clara felt her heart stop. There wasn't a whole lot she had known about the man but she knew that he was indeed suppose to be dead. She knew that Peter was the one who confronted Sirius in front of a whole group of muggles and was killed, along with the muggles, as a building had collapsed and left only but a finger in Peter's wake. Peter had confronted Sirius for ratting out to Voldemort on the whereabouts of James and Lily Potter and their son Harry. Clara suddenly felt herself become faint and Remus could tell that something was wrong when she turned white as s sheet.  
  
"Clara!" Remus called out, having to hold onto the girl as she nearly fell to the floor. But thankfully Remus had a hold on her and he slowly brought her down to the floor where he then leaned her up against the front side of his desk. Clara shook her head as her hands were shaking, how was a man suppose to be dead after nearly 13 years suddenly appear out of thin air and in Hogwarts? It just didn't make sense at all with her. Remus leaned up against the desk on the floor in front of Clara, placing one of his hands against the desk to help support himself to keep from falling into Clara. He noticed her shaking hands and just how pale she looked as she was in complete shock at the moment. She wasn't able to say anything as her mind buzzed with ways that she tried to figure out and make sense of everything, but there was nothing that she could think of that fit into explaining what she thought.  
  
"Do you really think Sirius is innocent?" she asked, looking at Remus for a brief moment. Remus shook his head, unsure himself on if Sirius really could be innocent or not. He didn't have all the facts yet, but he certainly was going to start digging deep now that he knew about this new piece of information.  
  
"I don't know. But Clara, you have to promise me one thing." Clara looked back up at Remus and noticed that his expression was serious this time and he meant what he was about to say.  
  
"You can't tell this to anyone, not even if they ask. And you especially cannot tell Harry. Do you understand?" It took Clara a moment to understand what Remus had told her, but when she did she nodded and showed him that she understood. Nobody could find out about this until they were both sure about Sirius's innocence or if he really was guilty for Lily and James's deaths.  
  
"I promise Remus, I won't tell anyone." Remus nodded. He trusted Clara above all others and she had always kept her promises and never gave him any doubt to not trust her. And it was the same for her with Remus, she trusted the man with her own life when it came down to it. So even now with something as big as this she had no other option but to trust him on it. Even though everything they had known was slowly starting to unfold to being a lie there was still a few questions that were left unanswered.  
  
How was Peter still alive? Was Sirius turly innocent? Why was Clara attacked by Sirius? And is Sirius really out to kill Harry Potter?


	8. I Couldn't Stay Away, I Couldn't Fight It

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please make sure to read Part Two for the continuation of this story! Thank You!

Clara watched from the comfort of her armchair while Harry was once again in Remus's classroom late at night practicing to master the  _Patronus Charm_ , again. She watched as the Bogart leaped from the chest, only to have Harry fail in being able to produce the light that was needed to repeal the beast and was knocked out cold, only to come back around in a couple of minutes. Remus handed him a piece of chocolate and took a seat on the stairs next to him, explaining to him what he needed to do in order to have the spell be cast correctly. Clara was sitting comfortably in her chair, she was currently in her night robes as it was rather late and had a book in her lap. She enjoyed watching Harry try to grow to become a better wizard, and she knew that with Remus's help he could indeed master this spell.  
  
"Clara, would you mind demonstrating a full on Patronus?" Remus asked, looking back behind himself toward her. When Clara looked up, she noticed that both Harry and Remus were looking to her. She gave a nod before agreeing. Closing her book, saving her place before hand, she stood from the chair and approached to the spot where Harry stood before. Her bare feet slapped against the wooden floor and it was rather cold upon her skin. She then pulled her wand from her robe pocket and stood in front of the chest. Remus retook his position next to the chest as he prepared to open it and release the Bogart. Harry stood up on the steps and watched, waiting to see just what a full Patronus looked like. Closing her eyes, she had make herself fear a Demintor more than anything else.  
  
"Are you ready, Clara?" Remus asked. When she nodded her head, Remus opened the trunk and out came a very large Demintor. Clara kept her eyes closed as she searched for a happy memory, one of her most happiest ones that she could recall. She felt as the Demintor drew closer and her eyes snapped open. She pointed her wand up toward the nasty creature and turned sideways. She did not need to speak the spell out loud, she was so advanced with the spell that there was no need. Instead, a bright light burst from her wand, which then out followed a Doe; a female dear. The Doe blasted right through the Demintor and it vanished quickly back into the trunk, not wishing anymore torment from the spell.  
  
Harry stood there amazed, Clara had really just dealt a full on Patronus and she didn't even have to call out the spell in order to have it cast. Harry knew that she was indeed a strong wizard, she had heard rumors from various people that suggested and supported that fact. Harry couldn't help but find himself coming to admire her more and more with each new fact that he learned about her. Not only was she very kind and easy to get along with, but she also had lost her family in almost the same manor as him. She was young when she lost them and was then left in the care of someone else. Harry couldn't help but respect her and everything that she had done, including helping him with learning this charm.  
  
"That was amazing Professor." Harry commented, smiling as he looked up to Clara. Clara looked over at him and tapped the wand in her open hand and couldn't help but smile herself from the simple praise that Harry had given her. She shook her head while playing with her wand, turning it around in her hands and looking it over and such.  
  
"Not really. When you yourself learn it, you'll see that it's nothing  _amazing_ at all." Clara told him dryly. Harry shook his head, as if thinking otherwise.  
  
"No, it really is amazing. You worked hard to learn the spell and in the end it turned out to be very powerful for you."  
  
"Harry's right you know," Remus interrupted, causing Clara to look his way. "You worked very hard to get the spell to be as powerful as it is now. You shouldn't doubt yourself so much, you're a very strong and talented witch Clara." Clara couldn't help but give a cheeky smile and shook her head rather playfully.  
  
"You know I prefer the term  _"wizard"_ , Remus. Witch is just too bad sounding of a name." Remus and Harry both couldn't help but pass a smile at her argument. As the rest of the night seemed to go by rather quickly, Harry was finally getting better at the spell. By the end of the night he was able to cast a shield like appearance of the spell. It wasn't long afterwords that Remus had to shoo Harry out of his classroom as the night grew late and both Clara and Remus were ready to turn in for the night. When they returned to their room Clara placed her book away on the shelf before turning around and heading to the bed. She let out a tired sigh before tossing herself down onto the soft sheets and snuggle her face into the pillow. She listened to Remus's chuckles as he changed out of his school attire and put on his own sleeping clothes. He climbed into his side of the bed and took one small glance at Clara, seeing that she had already fallen asleep, and smiled at her soft expression. It wasn't long before he himself closed his eyes and allowed sleep to take over his tired and old body.

* * *

  
Clara wandered around the halls of Hogwarts looking for a certain man, who had wandered off and left no trace as to where he had went. Remus had disappeared that afternoon and Clara honestly had no idea as to where he had gone. She had checked everywhere in the castle and yet she was still unable to find the man. Finally, she went outside on the grounds and started looking about there wondering if maybe Remus had wandered off outside for some strange reason.  
  
 _He shouldn't be outside tonight, not with the full-moon that's suppose to make it's way._  Clara's mind started to buzz with worry as the thoughts of Remus transforming out in the open would put him in grave danger. Then, she started to wonder if Remus had taken his potion for the night and that was when she stopped dead in her tracks; had he taken his potion for the night? She didn't recall seeing him take it and she started to panic as she almost started to sprint around the ground of the school. She looked around everywhere for him that she could think of where he would be but she was unable to find him in any of those places. Finally, she ran toward the Wompping Willow and was just about ready to go past it when she had caught sight of Remus up on the hill and casting a spell before disappearing underneath the tree.  
  
She was getting ready to call out to him, only to stop when she then watched Snape enter it a few moments later as he seemed to be following after Remus. Clara didn't understand what was going on, but she was smart enough to know that something was up and it couldn't have been good if Snape was following Remus without his knowledge. Clara quickly made her way to the tree and cast her own spell to calm the tree and allowed her to enter inside underneath the crazed shrub. She was careful to crawl down the rather steep incline underneath the tree and was amazed to see that it was a secrete passageway that lead deep back somewhere. With a flick of her wand, Clara now had a light that radiated from the tip of her wand as she slowly and cautiously proceeded down the unknown path as she went after both Remus and Snape.  
  
The walk was rather long and took her a good ten or fifteen minutes to finally get to the end, and when she did she was shocked as to where she ended up coming out. She looked around at the old walls of the room where she had came up out of the passageway. She looked around, seeing that it was old and nobody had seemed to live here for a long time. It was dark and cold, and the sounds it made told her where she had came out; The Screeching Shack. She looked around to try and locate where Snape and Remus had went, and it wasn't long till she figured out that they had went upstairs from all the shouting that took place.  
  
Clara heard voices from in the upper rooms in the shack as she slowly made her way up the stars. Not wishing to be seen, she placed the  _Disillusionment Charm_  on herself before proceeding up any further. The charm was to make her blind in with the environment and she only hoped that it would work. As she reached the top of the stars, she noticed that Snape had his wand drawn and was pointing it toward Remus, the trio, and... Sirius Black. Moving slowly so as to not be seen she watched and listened as they argued with one another. She had heard enough as Snape had just threatened Remus, with a quick flick of her wand, Snape with flying backwards across the room and hit the wall hard. Everyone either gasped, or looked shocked and confused as Snape was knocked out cold behind an old bed curtain.  
  
"What was that!" Ron shouted, holding his rat in his hands. Remus looked in Clara's direction and couldn't help but hold a faint smile.  
  
"Clara?" Everyone looked at Remus as if he was crazy when he called out to the open air. Surely Clara hadn't found them and had projected a spell straight onto Snape. But, when Clara's charm stopped and she was there for everyone to see Sirius, Ron, and Hermione all looked rather shocked but Harry and Remus couldn't help but smile her way.  
  
"Is everyone alright?" Clara asked, worried that Snape had actually done something stupid. Everyone looked at Clara as if trying to figure out if she was really here and had actually really have saved them all.  
  
"Clara, what are you doing here?" Remus asked, he couldn't believe that she had actually found them all and just in time to save their butts too.  
  
"You didn't think I would stay away from you for long?" Clara stated, causing Remus to become baffled by her answer. He most certainly hadn't expected her to say it.  
  
"Professor Evans!" Harry shouted, happy to see her here, but he was rather confused at the same time.  
  
"Clara Evans?" Sirius asked from the back. Clara turned and caught his eyes, they were a deep grey that looked overly tired but then with her sudden appearance held a small spark of what looked like happiness. He walked toward her slowly, the rags he wore had shown her that he had not had a chance to change since his escape from Azkaban.  
  
"It's been such a long time. How much you've grown." Sirius said while shaking his head as if he couldn't believe how much Clara had changed over the last 13 years he had seen her. He placed his hands on both sides of her arms and looked down at her, his eyes traveling all around her body and taking in each different feature that he could find. Clara still had mixed feelings about Sirius, after all this time she had thought that this man had destroyed everything that she ever loved, but it was all a lie. Remus had figured it out in the end all thanks to the map, and now Clara was ready to see this be put to an end.  
  
"Wait, you two know each other?" Hermione asked. It seemed that the surprises just kept coming tonight. First Remus, and now Clara too? Clara looked at the young girl before looking over at Harry and then Remus. Sirius glanced toward Remus and looked as if he didn't know what to do or say as he could feel the air change around them.  
  
"Don't tell me, that you were in all of this too!" Hermione continued. Clara shook her head, knowing where Hermione was going with this subject.  
  
"No, let me explain. Harry, there's something you need to know," Clara paused, looking at the young boy. He stood there and looked at Clara as he waited for her to tell him what she needed to say to him. She felt her stomach turn at the thought of saying it, but she knew that he needed to know and that she could not longer hide this fact from him any longer.  
  
"Harry, I'm your elder cousin." Harry's face changed slowly from calm to shocked. "I know I shouldn't have kept this from you, but I was taken in by your parents. James and Lily took me in when my own parents, both muggles, dropped me off at Lily's doorstep. They took me into their home when I was just a baby and raised me as their own. I lived with them for five years of my life before they were both killed that night in October. I'm so sorry for not telling you sooner, Harry." When Clara finished, she looked to Remus and noticed that he had been looking at her the whole time. He had a look in his eyes that showed that he was happy that she had finally told Harry, but there was also a hint of sadness that she still recalled that night in her mind.  
  
"But, Sirius didn't betray James and Lily like we all believed." Remus added, turning around to face Ron, Hermione, and Harry.  
  
"Where is he?" Clara asked, looking Sirius straight in the eyes. Sirius turned slowly, his look drastically changing as his eyes locked onto the rat that was being held in Ron's hands. Remus raised his finger and pointed at the rat in Ron's hands which caused Ron to panic as he assumed Remus was pointing at him instead of the rat. After that, all hell broke lose when the rat jumped from Ron's hands and dashed across the floor. Clara threw Remus her wand and both Sirius and Remus went after the rat as they chased it around the room trying to cast the spell to bring it to its true form. In the background, Ron was screaming that they were trying to kill his rat, which wasn't the case at all. Finally, they had gotten it when it went to jump through a hole in the wall. When the spell hit the rat, it transformed into the one person who everyone had thought to have been dead for 13 years; Peter.  
  
Peter became frantic as he was pulled out from the wall by Remus and Sirius. He raced all around the room trying to prove that he was under control of the Dark Lord and that he had no choice but to turn in James and Lily's whereabouts to the Dark Lord. Nobody in that room believed him or was willing to give him a chance to try to prove himself.  
  
"What would you have done, Sirius?" Peter finally asked. Sirius grew very angry and shouted at the top of his lungs toward Peter, causing the already skittish man to jump.  
  
"I would have rather  ** _died_**  than to have betrayed my  ** _friends_**!" Peter ran around the room more, all wands pointed at him. Finally, he found Harry and groveled at his feet, trying to tell him that it wasn't his fault. That he hadn't meant for everything to happen in the way that they did. Harry didn't seem to believe him either, and Clara most certainly didn't believe a damn word coming out of Peter's mouth.  
  
"You shouldn't have the right to speak to him!" Clara shouted, pulling Peter off of Harry and pulling Harry back and away from Peter. Peter looked up at Clara, a look of confusion on his face until he seemed to figure out who she was and that started a whole new conversation all together.  
  
"You... you're Clara, aren't you? Oh my dear girl, I heard that you had gone missing and had died!" Clara's eyes widened with shock, was that what someone had said when that night 13 years ago happened? Peter tried to crawl closer to her, put a wand came to Peter's throat which caused him to stop his moving and stilled on his knees. Remus had pushed Clara's wand deep into Peter's throat to keep him from getting any closer to her.  
  
"You move even an inch closer to her, and I'll kill you right here, right now. Do you understand, Peter?" Peter nodded his head and looked up at Remus, never had he seen that look in his eyes before and he had to admit that it worried him ever so slightly. Everyone argued about what to do with Peter for what seemed like forever. Sirius and Remus both wanted him killed right now, Clara didn't know what should have been done, but killing him right now would solve nothing at the moment as he needed to be questioned, and then Harry's suggestion seemed to be the best one; take Peter back to the castle and have him take the Demintor's Kiss.  
  
"You're just like Lily." Clara commented, causing Harry to look at her. "Always so kind." She finished, causing him to understand what she meant. Peter pleaded and pleaded, but nobody was willing to listen to him as Remus and Sirius pulled him to his feet and Remus escorted him down stairs. Sirius went to help Ron as Harry also assisted in getting him back to Hogwarts with his bad leg. It took them all a bit longer to get back to Hogwarts, due to having to move so slow due to Ron's leg, but they finally made it back. They all climbed out of the hole from underneath the willow and more or less scattered into their own little directions. Clara took a seat on the root of the tree and took a deep breath. This year had been beyond hectic and she hadn't prepared for any of it. She figured that she would be coming back to teach a few students how to protect themselves against the Dark Arts, not actually go on a  _rat_ hunt. Clara watched from her spot as Harry wandered off to talk with Sirius. She knew that Sirius was his Godfather, Remus had informed her about it a long time ago, but Harry had just learned not too long ago. She wondered what they were talking about over there, what could Sirius be saying to Harry after all these years of not being able to see him. Just as Clara's mind was starting to finally settle to a slightly peaceful setting, a very horrible thought jumped into her mind and she gasped.  
  
 _"The full-moon!"_  Clara shouted, leaping from the root of the tree and having Hermione and Ron both look at her shockingly. Hermione stood up from tending to Ron's leg where Sirius had grabbed him as he had aimed for Peter while he was in his rat form. Clara glanced to Remus, who also had seemed to have forgotten about tonight. Just as the clouds were starting to part, Remus turned and caught site of the moon. Hermione screamed out for Harry, which caused both Harry and Sirius to quickly turn and become aware of what was happening. They looked up at the full-moon as it revealed itself from behind the clouds.  
  
" _Remus!_ " Clara's painful scream filled the air as she watched as Remus's eyes locked onto the full-moon and he started his change. He cried out in pain, she knew it was a painful process and that there was nothing that could be done to ease the pain. She stood there with her hands over her mouth, knowing that he hadn't take his potion for tonight and that everyone here was now in danger. Clara shoved Peter away from Remus as she ran toward him, grabbing onto his clothes that were slowly being torn and ripped from him. She didn't know what to do, but she had to do something. Feeling hands grab onto her shoulders, she was pulled back and way from Remus by Sirius as he knew it was dangerous for her to be close to him right now.  
 

 _"The potion! He didn't have the potion tonight!"_  Clara cried out, having Sirius glance from her then to Remus as he finished transforming. Sirius took action as he ran toward Remus, only to be thrown out of the way as Remus knocked him back a ways away. Clara yelled out to Sirius, running over to his side to make sure that he wasn't hurt. She then heard Snape appear from the tree and threaten the trio before he turned and noticed Remus had transformed. Snape pushed the three students behind him as if trying to protect them from Remus. Remus lashed out and struck Snape on the leg, causing him to fall back into everyone. The fear in their eyes was very real as they watched as Remus stood up on his hinelegs and started to growl.  
  
Just as Remus was preparing to attack Snape, Harry, Ron, and Hermione, Sirius had transformed into his Animgaus and launched himself at Remus's werewolf form. They were both thrown to the ground and bit and fought with one another until Remus bit down onto Sirius's neck and threw him across the school yard. Sirius cried out in pain which drew Harry's attention and he went running to try to help Sirius. Snape called out, trying to keep Harry from getting close to Remus, but Harry didn't listen as he feared of losing Sirius after just finding out that he was his Godfather and was innocent to Lily and Jame's death. As Harry ran over to try to help Sirius, Remus turned toward Harry and bared his fangs at the boy. Harry stumbled backwards as he didn't know what to do.  
  
Then suddenly, Harry was knocked back by a flash of golden fur that leaped around him and stood between Remus and himself. Harry looked up, it was a Doe. Harry's eyes widened as he soon realized that this wasn't just any ordinary Doe, but it was actually Clara. Clara stood tall as she protected Harry, giving the boy a grand view of just how small Clara was compared to Remus. Though she was a Doe, Remus was still a werewolf and when he stood up on his hein legs he towered over her. Remus bared his teeth at Clara, but she didn't move as she continued to stand there. Harry felt his breath hitch in the back of his throat as he watched Remus slowly approach her on his legs. But Clara didn't budge, not even an inch. Her dark eyes watched as Remus came closer to her and she exhaled her breaths through her nose causing them to show on the cold night air.  
  
Remus stopped right in front of her as he leaned down and sniffed her face. Clara stood still while he preformed this action as she prayed in the back of her mind that he would slowly come to his scenes around her. She remembered him telling stories to her about how James, Sirius, and Peter would all transform into their Animagus and it would calm Remus enough during his transformations that he would regain his mind. Sadly, it wasn't going to work. Remus quickly pulled away and gave a loud howl before he locked eyes with Clara and threw himself for her. She turned around quickly and kicked him hard with her back legs, sending him flying back and tumbling down the slope of the hill and down toward the forest. Clara then looked down at Harry and nudged him quickly with her nose as if trying to tell him to _"get out of here!"_  
  
Harry seemed to be hesitant, but then he jumped to his feet and took off after Sirius, who they both knew was in far worse shape than before all thanks to trying to protect Harry and the others. Clara, without hesitation, quickly took off after Remus, who had fled into the woods after he had been knocked down the hill by her. She ran, nearly blindly, into the woods as she jumped about and leaped over the thick roots that sprung up from the ground and covered the forest flooring. It didn't take long for her to find Remus, as he moved slowly around as if looking for something. Clara was quick to come to a halting stop and stand there before Remus. Unknowing to Clara, Remus was actually looking for Harry and Hermione, who were both hiding behind one of the trees trying to keep out of sight of both Remus and Clara.  
  
Harry and Hermione had appeared tonight in order to change the events of the future thanks to a necklace that was given to Hermione by Mcgonagall during her first semester this year. The two of them watched and listened as Clara made a soft sound that Does' normally made to call out to their mate or call for their young. Remus turned with a snort and low growl as he caught her standing there on the slight incline and watched him from a distance. He lowered himself and slowly started approaching her, but she did not falter as she stood her ground as he crept closer and closer.  
  
"We've got to do something," Harry whispered, worried that Remus would attack Clara just had he did with Sirius. Hermione shook her head and started to pull him away.  
  
"We've got to help Sirius! She'll be fine, she knows how to handle him!" Harry kept looking back as Hermione tugged him away and they took their chance to escape to go find Sirius. Clara still had no idea that the two students had been there and watching, her focus was too great on Remus. As Remus crept closer, Clara made more of those same noises as if trying to communicate with him in some way or another. But, no matter what she did she just couldn't get through to him and she knew by now that he was too far gone to be able to control himself and that she was now in a very dangerous position. Remus went and took a flying leap toward her, his arms outstretched and trying to claw at her. She managed to dodge the attack at the last second before she skidded down the small incline and took off running in the direction she believed to be toward the castle.  
  
She wasn't going to draw him out into the open, that would be far to dangerous for him and others that might just happen to be around at the moment. She just needed to get closer in case something were to go wrong she would have less of a distance to travel to get to help. She ran quickly as her legs could carry her, but she could hear Remus catching up to her fast. Finally, he caught up to her tackled her to the ground. She cried out and kicked at his chest, hitting him several times and causing him to fall back from the constant attacks. Clara then rolled over and went to climb back onto her hooves, but she was grabbed onto her hips and she cried out in pain as his claws sunk into her hips. Blood gushed out as he burred his claws into her hips and then pushed himself over top of her back. As Remus had her pinned to the ground, he pulled his body all the way over top of hers and in one swoop, he sunk his teeth into the right side of her shoulder.  
  
She cried out as his teeth sunk deep into her flesh and ripped the skin and caused her great pain. She had been bitten by a werewolf, but that was least of her worries right now, her deepest fear was wondering if she could managed to get out of this alive. She couldn't hardly move as Remus had his entire body weight resting on her as he went to rip apart her neck. As he went to remove his teeth and go in for another attack Clara was starting to lose continuous as everything around her started to blur. Then, when she hear faint shouting the weight on her back was lifted as a bright light flew over top of her. She slowly started to transform back into her human form as her body could no longer keep in her Animagus form. Just before she closed her eyes, she knew she was saved when she seen Dumbledore, Mcgonagall, and Snape all rushing for her. She knew she was safe now, so she allowed her eyes to close and welcomed the rest that she needed after tonight.

* * *

  
When Clara had woken, she came to learn that she had only been out a few hours and it was now the early morning. Dumbledore was the only one who had come to check on how she was doing. She explained to him that it wasn't Remus's fault, that he couldn't control what he was doing. Clara hadn't expected Dumbledore to have been so extremely calm with her when she explained to him what had happened all that night. He was shocked to find out that Peter was still alive and that Sirius was indeed innocent of Jame's and Lily's death. Dumbledore listened while she explained everything that had happened, and he listened to every word she spoke and took them into his mind with great care.  
  
"You should go and speak with Remus. He's beating himself up pretty badly after we told him what had happened in the forest." Dumbledore informed her. He also informed her about avoiding Snape for a while, he was still very unhappy with her even though Dumbledore understood why she had attacked Snape. Clara understood and thanked Dumbledore for listening to her side of the story. He left shortly after and gave Clara time in order to climb out of bed and try to make her way to see Remus. Though Clara was bruised and hurting, she still climbed out from the bed and quickly made her way to their classroom.  
  
When she didn't find him in the classroom she climbed the stairs and opened the office door, finding Remus with his head resting in his hands as he sat behind his desk. Remus didn't even look up to see who entered until she managed to call out his name softly. His head shot up and his eyes locked onto her, he quickly rose from his chair and rushed out from behind his desk and embraced her in a close hug. Clara slowly placed her arms around his neck and hugged him in return.  
  
"It wasn't bad, honest it wasn't." Clara informed Remus, tracing the bite mark across her left collar bone right around her neck. Remus shook his head and placed his own hand over the horrid looking mark that he had left on her when he had lost control and transformed under the full-moon. He had chased her into the woods and cornered her, took her to the ground, and then tried to... Remus felt his mouth go dry as bits and pieces flashed through his mind. Clara's eyes widened slightly, her hands quickly coming up to grasp the sides of Remus's face as she watched as his eyes glazed over with tears.  
  
"R-Remus, don't be upset about it! You couldn't control what you were doing, and I don't blame you for this... it wasn't your fault." Remus shook his head, closing his eyes as he grabbed her wrist and pulled them off of his face and held them.  
  
"And that's the problem! I could have... I could have.... I could have  _killed you!_ " Remus nearly screamed, causing Clara to wince at the booming echo of his voice in the office. He pulled away from her, not knowing what to do as his emotions ran like a wild fire from within himself. He had hurt her, he had really hurt her, and he could have killed her had Snape not returned with Dumbledore and Mcgonagall when he did and managed to find them in the forest. Clara turned away, it was all her fault. She wasn't strong enough to be able to control Remus just like she had thought in the beginning. She felt the tears sting in her eyes before they slowly started to roll down her cheeks. Remus let go of her wrist and turned away, shaking his head and feeling the deep pain tear through his chest like a knife.  
  
"And what's worse, what if you become a werewolf now!" Remus shouted. It was true that he had bitten her, and that is how you normally become a werewolf is by being bitten by another. Clara's eyes started to tear over as she knew just how much Remus hated himself right now for everything that had happened to her. It wasn't his fault though, and she tried to tell him that but he just wasn't listening to her. She didn't know what else to say or do to make him understand that she wasn't upset with him and that she might not be infected with the werewolf.  
  
"It's all my fault-"  
  
" _ **No!**_   _No_ , don't start this Clara! Don't start!" Remus shouted, turning back around to face her. He approached her quickly and placed his hands on her arms and shook her slightly as he bent down and looked her straight in the eyes. He was angry with her. He was so angry because she was always beating herself down and blaming herself for things that weren't her fault. She was so much better than that and he only wished that she could see it just as he saw it.  
  
"It's not your fault! It was never your fault! You have to stop beating yourself down all the time!" Clara shook her head and tried to pull away, only for Remus to hold her arms tighter as he refused to let her go. He wouldn't let her go, he couldn't let her go.  
  
"B-But I wasn't strong enough! I couldn't stop you! It's just like I said before we came back to Hogwarts, I wouldn't be able to do it!" Remus shook his head frantically and placed his hands on the sides of her face and moved her hair out of the way of her face.  
  
"No, no, no... Clara." Remus's voice was now soft, he was no longer shouting at the top of his lungs anymore. He was trying to comfort her now, not wishing for her to blame herself anymore. More tears slid down her cheeks as her green eyes looked into Remus's own. Her breath caught in the back of her throat when she noticed just how close Remus's face was to her own. It seemed that Remus noticed this as well, his breaths started to slow to this fact, being so close to her made his mind turn to pudding as he couldn't think straight with her so near. Neither one of them moved as they just continued to look into each others eyes. Then, Remus pulled away quickly and moved back a few steps before turning away from her. Clara was able to breath again, but her heart was shattered. She cared so deeply for Remus that she was so sure he was going to kiss her, but it seemed that Remus thought differently about her.  
  
"Remus, I-" Clara said, trying to find the right words to say. What were the right words to say anymore? In her heart she felt as if there was nothing else that meant more to her in the world than Remus. But, it seemed that she wasn't alone in this feeling. Remus felt the same about her, but he never thought in his deepest dreams that she would return the feelings. He couldn't allow her to return the feelings either way. He had already hurt her once, and he couldn't afford to take the chance at hurting her a second time.  
  
"I'm sorry Clara." Remus interrupted, his back to her and keeping her from seeing his hurtful expression. Clara stood there, knowing what he meant by his apology.  
  
"I've hurt you too much already, I can't take the chance of doing it again. I think that when we return home, we should spend time... apart." Clara shook her head as more tears made their way from her eyes, all for a different reason now. She couldn't handle this right now, she was never good with rejection and she didn't even have to finish her sentence for Remus to know what she was going to say. It crushed her, deeply. Anger quickly followed as she took a step forward and clenched her hands into fists as she cried out, showing just how much it pained her for him to reject her in the way he had. He stood there and listened as she cried out, before he heard her run out of the room to the best of her ability due to her injuries. He was left alone in the room by himself, not even his thoughts were there to comfort him now. Remus walked around to his desk and took a seat. He sat there for a moment, just looking down at his desk, before he felt his own cheeks becoming wet from his own emotions.


End file.
